Schools
St. Joseph Students Headed for Destination ImagiNation Finals Next Week
Five teams from the Lake Orion school ready to compete with kids from around the country in Knoxville, TN.
in Lake Orion are anxiously anticipating the Destination ImagiNation (DI) Global Finals next week in Knoxville, TN.
The students, ranging from fourth- to eighth-graders, qualified for the Global Finals after giving outstanding performances at the state finals competition at Central Michigan University in Mt. Pleasant at the end of April. According to Holly Eisbrenner, co-manager of one of the five teams that will be competing, the Klueless Klowns, it's unusual for five teams from one school to make it to the Global Finals.
"We're incredibly proud that it's from a small school like ours," said Eisbrenner.
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Destination ImagiNation Inc. is a nonprofit organization that promotes an after-school program that pushes students to learn to work in teams and solve a variety of challenges. Specific challenges are assigned based on the ages and preferences of the students participating. During competitions, teams present the solutions to their challenges that they have been working on since the fall and also receive an instant challenge. Teams will be competing against other teams from across the world.
At St. Joseph School, kindergarten students through eighth-graders can participate. Teams are led by managers, who are parent volunteers, but the students are expected to complete their challenges on their own and even make their own costumes.
Find out what's happening in Oakland Township-Lake Orionfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
"After every tournament they can start fresh, look at their scores and try to beef up their solutions or make them better," Eisbrenner said.
A seventh- and eighth-grade team, The Boot Brigade, received first place at the state finals competition for its project outreach challenge. For its challenge it held boot drives and collected 175 pairs of boots, which it then distributed to the Department of Human Services locally.
"It was hard coming up with something ... We didn't want to do something ordinary, like recycling," The Boot Brigade member Olivia Packard said of coming up with a solution for her group's challenge.
Other teams participating in the Global Finals consist of the fourth-grade team the Solar Swimmers, which solved a scientific challenge about solar energy, a fifth-grade team called The Mechanical 5 that solved a technical challenge, and two teams The Klueless Klowns made up of sixth-graders and Super Sassy Silly Sixth Sense made up of seventh- and eighth-grade students who created movie trailers for their fine arts challenge.
The Solar Swimmers were enthusiastic about achieving first place in the regional and state competitions and hope to do just as well at Global Finals.
"This has been one of our goals for a long time," said Daniel Heuschele, fourth-grade member of the Solar Swimmers.
Likewise, fourth-grader Kalan Hand said, "I hope we bring home a big trophy."
How to help
Students have been actively working to raise money for their trip, which costs $665 per student, totaling about $25,000 in fees. To donate to their cause, or to become a corporate sponsor, send a check to St. Joseph School at 703 N. Lapeer Rd., Lake Orion, MI 48362 or visit www.stjosephlakeorion.org. For more information call (248) 693-6215.
In an earlier version of this story Holly Eisbrenner was quoted saying it was unusual for five teams in one state to go to Global Finals, but she meant five teams from one school.
