Some Weedsport families had an exciting time last weekend at the Odyssey of the Mind State Tournament at SUNY Binghamton. Three teams from our district representing the elementary, middle and high schools competed against schools from across the state in the Tee Structure problem, just one of several problems tackled this year.

Our high school team, coached by teachers Hannah Fancher and Wendy Brown, earned a second place finish and will be competing at the World Competition at the University of Maryland May 31 through June 3.

Congratulations to team members Randy Condes, Erin Daly, Kelly Piascik, Christi Quinn, Jordan Roe and structure builder Nicole Slauson on a job extremely well done.

Our middle school team (Austin Bates, Jennie Bruno, Bradon Dietsche, Zac Marshall, Nick Sanchez, Ryan Wager and Matt Wilson), coached by Nicole Polifroni, had a 13th place finish, and our elementary school team (Jacob Lamphere, Alex Mogavero, Shaun Ferguson, Andrew Young, Michael Chirco, Rebecca Whitman and William Musengo), coached by Melissa Beerman finished in seventh place.

Also worth a shoutout is our other elementary OM team (Jordan Lally, Julia Musengo, Nick Jones, Josie Field, Kaitlyn Root, Hannah Roden and Haley Black) coached by Melissa Young and Jill Garcia, who competed in the regional tournament in Auburn in “The Eccentrics!” problem and did a great job.

Many thanks to our coordinator Ashley Kukula; all of the coaches for their time, patience and enthusiasm, and to the participants' families for their support and encouragement. Be sure to support our high school team any way you can as they prepare for Worlds.

Weedsport also had several vocalists and musicians selected to participate in the Spring All-County Festival in Union Springs March 28 and 29. Senior high band participants included Katie McCafferty, Anna Wilson, Molly Sears, Shane Tavolino, Amy Lewis, Casey Sears, Hope Wolfanger, Tyler Phillips, Lauryn Bates, Deann Dolph, Allison Roosa, Jeremy Ozolins, Ti Marshall, Luke Baker, Kaitlyn Hammersley, Matt O'Neil, Amy Sanchez, Matt Kunz, Sean Wignall and Tom Matijas. Junior high chorus participants included Sierra O'Hora, Kim Cieri, Jocelyn Perrault, Eva Poupore, Samantha Sandercock, Alyssa Smithler, Mollie Pelton, Nicole Tabone and Ian Moore.

The Weedsport A.P.T. continues to be extremely busy with upcoming projects in our district.

We have a new fundraiser which continues through April 8 featuring specialty coffee and cocoa with personalized Weedsport packaging, to be delivered right after Spring Break. Be sure to check your child's backpack for ordering information.

A.P.T. recently sponsored book fairs at both the elementary and Jr.-Sr. High School (a big thank you to our volunteers), and we're coming down the home stretch with plans for our week with the National Circus Project and the Fifth-Grade Circus in May.

We've also sponsored a trip for some of our Spanish classes to attend a performance in Syracuse by a flamenco/ballet company, provided snacks for students during state test weeks, staffed a concession stand for several Saturdays during CCYO basketball games as well as during the high school musical and the upcoming dance recital and, most importantly, funded several scholarships to be offered at graduation.

It's never too late to start attending our monthly meetings and participating in our programs. Our next meeting is at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 8, in the High School Board Room.

Our Varsity track, softball and baseball teams had their first meet and games this past week; be sure to check your news notes for the sports schedules and get out there to support our athletes (you might need a parka and boots early in the season, but it will get better).

Weedsport has two exciting talent shows coming up in just a few weeks to benefit the Lions Club's scholarship fund. The first, on April 25, will showcase our talented students and the second, on May 2, will showcase our talented community of adults.

Please contact Wally Meier at 834-9229 as soon as possible if you're interested in participating or helping out with one or both shows.

Dust off those old dance shoes, warm up those vocal chords or tune that rusty instrument and show us whatcha got.

Wendy Bates has lived in Weedsport all her life and loves to write about her community