Two Edison Local School District teams performed well at the Destination Imagination Global Finals in Kansas City, Mo., with both ranking within the top 15 in the world.
Twelve students representing Edison Jr. High School and John Gregg Elementary attended the competition at the Kansas City Convention Center on May 21-26, where more than 1,000 teams representing such countries as the U.S., Mexico and China completed team and individual contests. Destination Imagination, or D.I., is an educational program where teams work throughout the year to solve open-ended challenges and present solutions. The goal is to gain knowledge and experience in critical thinking to teamwork as well as build STEM and conflict resolution skills and contests include fine arts, technical and service learning.
EJHS’s team, Us, landed 10th in the middle level technical challenge and The Baconators of John Gregg were 13th in the elementary level fine arts challenge. The results were based on points tabulated from both their team and instant challenges and members were pleased with the outcome.
“I was really excited and it was kind of shocking to me because it was out of 50 teams from all over the world,” said Us member Olivia Ferguson, adding that she and her teammates worked on weekends in her father’s garage to build their project.
Us, which is coached by Amanda Richardson, also included seventh-graders Beckett Dopp, Daleanee Devore, Connor Richardson, Nathan Myers and Lindsey Howell and The Baconators, which is led by coach Amber Weaver, included fourth- and fifth-grade students Landon Ankrom, Lakynn Howell, Adrianna Miller, Carson Ensinger, Reagan Ingram and Cadence Bendle. The team also originated at John Gregg and advanced to the global finals last year, where members ranked 20th out of 40 teams in the elementary technical challenge category. They made it their mission to return and do better this year, and they succeeded. The group worked hard on their project under the theme, “Pinball Heroes,” and fashioned a pinball game with a corresponding skit about a hero’s extraordinary mission which included a dream concept. They looked forward to returning again next year and doing even better.
“It was super fun,” said Beckett Dopp. “We made the top 10, but next year it’s going to be the top five.”
“We’re doing it next year,” said Connor Richardson.
“I was very proud,” added Daleanee Devore.
The Baconators team only formed this year, making it equally impressive that they advanced on their first attempt. Member Reagan Ingram said they placed 13th out of 40 teams in their challenge, which featured a story involving the Egyptian Sphinx.
“We had to pick a piece of artwork and it had to have a moveable part, which was the nose of the Sphinx, and reimagined art that involved dancing,” explained teammate Carson Ensinger. “It was fun.”
Lakynn Howell added that they met teams from the Ukraine, Poland, Canada and Mexico. Ingram said she was excited about participating as well as watching other teams perform challenges and taking part in a pin trade with groups from other countries. All of the teammates opined that they were nervous about the event but found it exciting and wished to return next year.
The top three teams in the D.I. challenges earned trophies and medals and some were honored with DaVinci Awards for creativity and Renaissance Awards for design. Both Edison teams also had a chance to tour the city and participate in the Kansas City Quest scavenger hunt, the latter in which Us earned third place. They also attended an outdoor performing arts festival and heard a lecture from Pixar officials on creating stories and characters which involved details about crafting such movies as “Toy Story” and “Monsters, Inc.”
District D.I. Coordinator Kelly Dopp was proud of both teams’ accomplishments amid the population of participants.
“I was very impressed with both teams and very proud of how they performed while they were there,” she said. “They had a chance to interact with kids from other countries. I was impressed by our kids’ ability to go and do their challenge in a high-pressure setting, and both teams nailed it.”
She added that more than 1,400 teams have participated in past global contests and there were 100 more teams this year. Dopp said Us members were motivated to go back again when they viewed their name in the rankings.
“When they saw their name, they were so excited and later asked, ‘How can we make it to the top three next year?’” Meanwhile, she was grateful to the community for supporting the opportunity to attend the finals. The teams raised $36,000 through fundraisers and contributions, including a $10,000 donation from the Bergholz Community Foundation, a $3,600 donation from the Edison Local Board of Education and a $1,000 grant from the Modern Woodsmen of America. Additionally, there were a series of moneymakers from a spaghetti dinner, business solicitations and tag days at local gas stations to lemonade shake sales during the First Fridays on Fourth in Steubenville, slushies sales at lunchtime and penny wars collections at both schools.
