Chester Kids Ride Imagination To Global Award

1,200 teams, 44 states, 14 countries were nearly all taken down by six kids from Chester.

A group of eighth-grade students from Black River Middle School, who go by the moniker “Six Guys,” took home third in the Global Finals of ‘Destination Imagination' held last month in Knoxville, Tennessee. The worldwide collaborative problem solving competition pit the Chester crew against middle school students from across the world.

“New Jersey selects one team from each challenge to go to Globals. And we won first place in states,” said Chester Board of Education Vice President Heather Ronco.

After passing through the preliminary rounds, the eighth-graders hopped in a mini-van and made the 10-hour trek to Tennessee.

Once there, they presented their ‘solution’ to a scientific challenge called Wind Visible. The students built a structure that was wind-powered and shed light on offshore wind farms. As apart of the requirements, the structure had to be in motion for at least 15 seconds.

Six Guys kept it going for 24.

Along with the scientific creation (which included a duct tape band that caused tension, an air pump, pendulum and decorated exterior), the group had to complete in creative "team choice elements."

They chose to fulfill these by writing a song and including an ‘invisible visitor’ in an eight-minute skit showcasing their creation.  The visitor, whom could not be visible or heard on stage, had to be somewhat of an imaginary friend that played to their project concept.

The student skit involved pirates in 1792 fiercely navigating the open oceans in hopes of finding treasure, but a trip through the Bermuda Triangle sends them careening through time, landing in present day. Confusion sets in as the pirates come in contact with the world’s largest offshore wind farm, Olympic swim champ Michael Phelps with gold medals around his neck. With the help of Phelps’ stroke and the wind farm design, the pirates manage to perfect the design flaws of their broken machine.

The song, which discussed pirates, gold and time travel, fit agreeably (according to judges) into their choreographed routine. Bringing the skit to life did not cost the Six Guys much.

“We had a $125 budget for all of this (including props),” said Jakob Cooper, one of the group members. “So we used all recycled material. Even our ‘steering wheel’ was a recycled bike wheel.”

Past their prepared bits, the students took part in instant challenges where they would be confronted with a problem which needed to be solved in about two minutes. At the state tournament, Six Guys invented their own genre of music, and at the Finals, they designed ways for water to be parsed out in exact quantities, using ordinary materials.

“To see the progress they made, was incredible,” said Andrew Gray, the DI coordinator for Black River Middle School. “The program lends itself to learning in so many different ways. The kids get to come back and reflect on how great of an experience it was. It’s something they’ll remember for life.”

Team member Alex Ronco said that the experience was life-changing, which was a sentiment shared by his peers.

"Destination Imagination expanded my horizons so much," Vince Falvo said. "Now, I would love to build new things.”