Three Clarkston Creativity Crew Destination ImagiNation teams competed at the Michigan Affiliate Finals competition, a state-wide event held the weekend of April 20-21 on the campus of Central Michigan University.
Two of the Clarkston teams placed in the event, with one advancing to the Global Finals to be held in May.
‘It was hard, but a lot of fun. Our parents aren’t allowed to help us at all so it made us work together to come up with our ideas.?, said team member Sydnee McLennan.
The team, Five Wolves and a Hawk included members Anne-Marie Dargay, Caroline Dargay, Kalei McLennan, Mitchell Page, Alex Pouttu and Andrew Ross. They chose to complete in the “News to Me” Central Challenge and won the standing of fourth in the state.
In this challenge, they had four minutes to create an improvisational skit integrating a cause-and-effect relationship between two unrelated news stories. As part of their challenge they’re given a ‘glitch’ which then they must incorporate into their skit within one minute. The performance then begins which at that point they must incorporate cooperative human scenery to enhance the skit.
A first year elementary team, Team Dreamers, participated in the Technical Challenge. Team members include Annie Hubl, Asha Molnar, Matthew Rozman, , Stephen Rusnak, and Justice Williams. In this challenge, “Assembly Required,” teams had to design and build equipment that retrieves parts and delivers products, assemble products to fill orders, and present a story about something that happens just in time.
The Adventure Crew team, members Brady Bergman, Maya Bergman, Sydnee McLennan, Brennan Pagac, Kevin Petkus, Grace Pouttu, and Grace Schroeder, had the difficulty of being another first-year team and working together for only a few months proved to be just another test, as they earned first place competing in the fine arts challenge, “Coming Attractions”. In this challenge they needed to present a ‘live? original movie trailer involving characters from at least two nations as well as incorporate a cinematic special effect and create an original soundtrack that complemented the movie trailer. These students designed a mobile set complete with costumes, backdrop and props.
They now move on to represent Clarkston and the State of Michigan, along with 8,000 other students on1,200 teams from over 30 countries, at the Global Finals in Knoxville, TN, from May 22-27.
Team manager Ruth Dargay said, ‘I’m so proud of this team. Even the judges were telling us how unusual it is for a first-year team to win it all and move on the globals. It’s such an exciting opportunity.?
Destination ImagiNation is a community-based program that builds essential skills of creativity, problem solving, and teamwork through open-ended challenges.