St. Joseph Students Set School Record at Destination ImagiNation Finals

For the first time in history a team competing in the Destination ImagiNation Global Finals took home a first place victory.

According to Tom Eisbrenner, co-manager of at the finals, the Klueless Klowns, St. Joseph in Lake Orion has been participating in Destination ImagiNation (DI) for 20 years. Prior to this year, the highest ranking a St. Joseph team has received is third place.

The finals took place in Knoxville, TN and wrapped up on May 26.

"It was an amazing feeling – I can’t even describe how awesome I felt and everyone else felt. We were crying and jumping up and down," said Gretchen Altenberger, seventh grade student who is a member of the record-breaking team, the Super Sassy Silly Sixth Sense. "It was a goal of ours to get up on the stage – I don’t think any of us expected that we would get first."

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.

'A surreal experience'

Eisbrenner noted that being awarded first place is a difficult feat and that only 15 teams achieved a first place finish among the 1,275 teams from across the world that competed at global finals.

Likewise Gretchen's mother Jeri, who co-manages the Super Sassy Silly Sixth Sense, said, "It was awesome! It was exciting and of course the parents were all very proud of the girls. It was almost a surreal experience.”

Last year the Super Sassy Silly Sixth Sense were able to clinch fourth place. This year was the fourth year in a row the team, which is made up of six seventh and eighth grade students, made it to the Global Finals.

Their team opted for a fine arts challenge this year, "Coming Attractions", which involved students presenting a live movie trailer at the competition. The fine arts challenge needed to incorporate characters from at least two nations and the Super Sassy Silly Sixth Sense team focused their movie trailer on a storyline of four characters and their theories about the world's end.

Not only did the team place first; they also attained a first place score in all three components of the competition and received a rare Renaissance Award for their efforts. The team also placed first at its state and regional competitions this year.

"I really liked the challenge but also thought it was really tricky," said Taylor Warstler, an eighth grade member of the Super Sassy Silly Sixth Sense.

Jeri said that the girls work well as a team and spent a lot of time practicing; meeting every weekend and many times during the week as well. Many members of the team have been part of DI together since early elementary school, Jeri said, so they have a good handle on what the strengths and weaknesses of their teammates are.

Gretchen said a lot of the challenge is trial and error and over the course of DI practices and competitions since fall, they had to rework quite a few factors. Gretchen said her team even have a pile of props that weren't used because they had to be remade.

The judge's nomination note at finals for St. Joseph's winning team read:

“This team knocked the appraisers’ socks off by presenting a Movie Trailer that went above and beyond and utilized an extraordinary level of detail.   working medicine cabinet with a vast array of team created nail polish (our favorite was “Twilight Sparkle”), a pulley system that allowed them to quickly and efficiently change backdrops, a collapsing building, a loom actually used to weave, and the design and construction of their set pieces highlighted this teams’ ability to bring their Movie Trailer to life, leaving the audience wanting to watch their feature presentation. The professionalism this team brought to all aspects of their performance overwhelmingly raised their work to an award winning level — this Renaissance award today, and an Oscar in the future!”

"I feel like our team has left our mark on St. Joe's," Gretchen said.

Four other teams advanced to finals, performed well

In addition to the Super Sassy Silly Sixth Sense, after successful seasons, making St. Joseph the school with the most representation at the global finals this year in the world.

"We were proud of all five of our teams," Eisbrenner said. "They were curious, respectful, motivated and energetic."

• A seventh- and eighth-grade team, , received eighth place at the global finals competition for its project outreach challenge. This was the team's first trip to the finals. For its challenge it held boot drives and collected 175 pairs of boots, which it then distributed to the Department of Human Services locally.
• A sixth grade team, the Klueless Klowns, took on the same fine art challenge as the Super Sassy Silly Sixth Sense and finished in 23rd place.
• The Mechanical 5, a fifth grade team, were up against 57 different teams and placed 32nd overall in their technical challenge.
• A fourth grade team known as finished in 31st place out of 78 teams with their scientific challenge. The Solar Swimmers ended up having a technical issue with their lighting but Eisbrenner said 'They did a phenomenal job overcoming the problem and creating a solution on the fly'.

The teams are still fundraising; here's how to help

Students worked hard prior to their trip to globals to raise money for their trip, which costs $665 per student, totaling about $25,000 in fees. They were able to raise a great portion through a successful can drive and through local, corporate sponsors such as , Lakes Promotions LLC, Priority Health and more. The team is still under its goal and will continue collecting donations.

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.