Two Saline Teams win Destination ImagiNation State Competitions

Chalk up another state title for Saline High School students.

Thirty-four Saline Destination ImagiNation students ranging from the elementary to the high school level competed on April 16, at the Affiliate Finals in Holt, Michigan. These 34 students represented eight teams that have worked hard since Fall 2010 to complete a set of Central Challenges and Instant Challenges. Destination ImagiNation Inc., or “DI”, is a creative problem solving organization for students from elementary school through college. Teams of up to seven members compete in various challenges that require complex thinking, problem solving, teamwork and creativity. The organization holds regional, affiliate, and international competitions to encourage creativity in the world's youth.

Two DI teams placed first in their division, and will proceed to the international Global Finals competition May 25-May 28, in Knoxville, TN. Global Finals is the culminating event of every Destination ImagiNation season. Each year, more than 1,000 teams from 30 countries gather at Global Finals to showcase their top-ranking Challenge solutions.

At the Elementary division, “The French Five” team of Alex Mah, Johnathan Roberts, Jon-Michael Taylor, and Peter and Rachel Ward not only placed first in the State, but also received a Renaissance Award, which recognizes extraordinary amounts of effort and preparation, design and performance in a team's solution. These fifth-graders chose “Challenge A: Unidentified Moving Object” and proceeded to design and build equipment to move various materials to and from towering heights, which provides a solution to an infrastructure problem. They researched the Malpasset Dam collapse in 1959 in Frejus, France, which killed 432 people. The team used an imaginary REFLECT time machine that goes back in time to repair cracks in the dam in order to save the community. The time machine included an electromagnet, a Lego Mindstorm robot, a crank lift with pulleys, a touch sensor, a PVC pipe sweeper, and a deflector shield. They built elaborate scenery of the dam site, a 1950's-style TV, and a replica of the Malpasset Dam Memorial as well as learned French as part of their presentation. Their team managers are Kevin Taylor and Julie Jones.

The Saline High School team called “What’s Cookin’?” also placed first in their division, and will proceed to Global Finals. Ian  and Tate Burns and Joseph Strobbe competed in “Challenge C: Triple Take Road Show" in which they used different storytelling methods to tell the same story to three different imaginary audiences and portray the travel methods used to move their "traveling road show" between locations. They also had to integrate a "technical spectacle" to add drama to their performance. This team chose to become a traveling cooking show with two chefs that traveled to Texas, Japan and Italy by boat and truck. While cooking their pasta dishes, they encountered obstacles such as a rodent infestation, toxic chemicals and an oven fire but through it all the chefs managed to complete their dish and "go on with the show". This team has been competing together in DI for nine years and no matter whether they win or lose, it is always a fun, exciting experience for them. Their team manager is Joy Burns.

“The Saturn V” team also competed in “Challenge A: Unidentified Moving Object,” and placed third in the Elementary division. This team of fifth-graders was comprised of Matthew Coleman, Tyler Kudlak, Derek Liemohn, Vincent Patteri, and Luke Sloan. Using their imagination, they created a futuristic world in which cheeseburgers were the primary source of electricity for planet Earth. A biological disaster caused by zombies with a taste for cheeseburgers threatened Earth’s primary power supply. Aliens from Saturn aid Earth by moving large amounts of pickle relish from the cucumber farms on Saturn to Earth to combat the cheeseburger-eating zombies. (Zombies spontaneously combust after ingesting relish.) The Saturn V team built two retrieval components using PVCs pipes, connectors, string, a “claw”, a pasta strainer, and mirror to move the relish and zombies to/from Saturn and Earth. They wrote original music and lyrics for a song entitled, “The Zombies are Coming” to accompany their skit. Matthew Coleman played the clarinet, Tyler Kudlak the violin, and Derek Liemohn sang. They also created costumes for the aliens, and made the audience laugh throughout the skit with their humor! Their team managers are Ginger Liemohn and Jenny Sloan.

“The Flying Nharwals” H.S. team, otherwise known as Matt Finegan, Daniel Hochrein, and Audrey  and Ryan Neet, placed sixth in the H.S. division. They competed in “Challenge C: Triple Take Road Show” where they told a story to three different imaginary audiences, incorporating the use of a “technical spectacle” in at least one story. In March, this team won a Renaissance Award at the Regional Tournament for their innovative design and sound effects showing their exceptional skill in the areas of engineering, design, and performance. Their team manager is Mike Finegan.

A fourth-grade team called “The Super Six,” competed in “Challenge E: Verses! Foiled Again!” Team members include: Leah Abdallah, Mason LaFleur, Jacob Lawton, Gabrielle and Alex Ragatz, and Josh Willwerth. They had to design and build a structure made of only aluminum foil, wood, and glue to hold the maximum weight that it could withstand before collapsing. The structure had to be between 7-9 inches tall, had to weigh less than 25 grams and be able to fit a 2 inch cylinder down the middle. In addition, they needed to present a story about a character that is “foiled” and also integrate team-written verse into their storyline. Their solution included a story about a child trying to steal a cookie from a cookie jar. The team members made their own unique pottery cookie jar, and was awarded a Renaissance Award at the Regional Tournament in March and participated in the Affiliate Finals. Their team manager is Catherine Fillmore.

Another Saline team, the “The Awesome Ones,” made up of sixth and seventh graders also competed in Challenge E (the architectural challenge). This team has been together for several years and this was their fourth time progressing to the Affiliate Finals. Team members are: Catherine Dager, Therese Larson, Matthew Lougheed, Caleb Kartha-Bortles, and Srinath Ravendrom. This group of creative minds stretched their boundaries this year by designing and building marionettes. They presented a marionette performance of King Arthur and his knights trying to outwit King Aluminum and his dragon. The dragon was truly a work of art, crafted from polymer clay using blending, caning, and engineering techniques. Their team manager is Joan Crane.

“The Oreos,” a middle school team comprised of Anne  and Kyle Boxeth, Chris Combs, Sam  and Julia Pawlowski, Evan Raeker, and Chad Whitling, placed fourth at Affiliate Finals in Challenge A: Unidentified Moving Object. This group of middle school students has been together for four years, and this was their fourth year to progress to Affiliate Finals. Using PVC piping and metal pieces, the Oreo’s made a claw and a pole to move objects up and down the tower for Challenge A. The infrastructure problem they addressed was that an imaginary dam was clogged and prevented water flow. Their skit focused on using inexpensive equipment that was easy to operate to safely clear the dam without a huge expense to the pretend “city.” Their team manager is April Boxeth.

The newest team to compete at Affiliate Finals was a middle school team named, “The Gangstah Oreos.” Members of this newly-formed team included: Samantha Giannotti, Anthony Huffman, Grayson Knapp, Rohan Kulkarni, Adi Mannari, and Kirk Stow. This team picked Challenge B: Spinning a Tale, a scientific challenge involving a 3-act play demonstrating an energy cycle. They chose the cycle of the Sun changing polarity every eleven years which leads to sunspots and solar flares. In their play, a solar flare takes out all of Earth’s high-tech communications, including cell phones, and the characters respond to the emergency and rebuild communications. Their team manager is Cathy Fillmore.

Interested in learning more about the DI? Look for “DI Fridays” offered this summer through Saline Community Education for students in grades kindergarten through eighth grade. For more information about Saline Destination ImagiNation, go to www.salinedi.org. Teams form in the September-October timeframe, and compete in competitions in the winter and spring. Also, check us out on Facebook under “Saline DI.”