Columbus Middle School students are celebrating this week, after one of their Destination ImagiNation teams placed 10th in the competition’s Global Finals last weekend in Knoxville, Tenn.
Destination ImagiNation, commonly called “DI,” is a curriculum-based program, which uses team-based challenges to teach creativity, problem-solving and teamwork to students around the world.
The Global Finals are the culmination of each year’s work, with 1,276 teams from 45 states and 13 countries participating in this year’s event.
At the beginning of each academic year, students form seven-member teams from five categories: Engineering, scientific research, architecture and structure, theater and drama, and improvisation. Of the four CMS teams that competed, the highest honor went to “The Jabekas,” an all-female theater and drama team made up of seventh and eighth graders. They began working on their top-10 presentation in November.
The other three teams — the seventh grade Walliaz scientific research team, the seventh and eighth grade Bojangles Spirit engineering team and the sixth grade Super Smart Squirrels architecture team — struggled with glitches and absent teammates. Despite those obstacles, Sylvia Collins, a resource teacher for the SPIRIT gifted student program, said each team achieved something special during the challenge, whether it was carrying on with a few less hands or continuing to work hard, despite setbacks.
The Walliaz team took 36th place while competing without two teammates and the Bojangles Spirit team scored 87 percent — which Collins called “incredibly well” — on the instant challenge, despite also missing a team member. The Super Smart Squirrels came up short against the clock.
The students also proved themselves skilled fundraisers, collecting $24,000 for the trip.
“We’re excited students represented the state of Mississippi, as well as the Columbus Municipal School District, in such a well-behaved, outstanding manner,” Collins said Tuesday. “Comments from other teams, with whom we shared a hotel, actually told me how nice and thoughtful and polite our children were.”
Collins has led the program for more than a decade, with 19 teams qualifying for Global Finals and many bringing home first place trophies.
Jebakas team members are: Brianna M. Brown, Shemaiah Caine, Amari Colvin, Kerrigan Hill, Ayana Morris, Jessica Verdell and Evelyn Walker.
The Walliaz are Ansley Dale, Leonardo Dismukes, Zoe Fowler, Jaylan Lenoir, Anthony McClelland, Wrishija Roy and Laurel Yarborough.
Bojangles Spirit team members are: Ladd Chain, Jimbo Killebrew, Camden Sanders, Avery Velek, Cooper Weseli, Joshua Williams and Laurel Yarborough.
And the Super Smart Squirrels are Braden Bonsall, Christina Clark, Aidan Dunkelburg, Karlito Hill, Jonas Oswalt and Graham Weseli.
Carmen K. Sisson is the former news editor at The Dispatch.
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