D70 DI Teams Prepare for Global Competition

         A record number of six Libertyville School District 70 teams representing each of the five schools involved in an international problem-solving program, Destination Imagination, will compete on the global level this month.     

         Destination Imagination challenges students in problem solving techniques. This year, students from Adler Park, Butterfield, Copeland Manor, Rockland and Highland Middle placed in one of the top four positions on the state level, which is propelling them to compete in the a world competition held May 21-24 in Knoxville, Tenn. District 70 sent nine teams to the state competition on April 12 at Illinois State University. The District began with 21 separate DI teams on the regional level held in March. 

         The sponsors for all the District 70 teams this year are teachers Julie Jermakowicz, Kristen Morden, Karen McLean, Megan Russell, Danya Sundh, and Ashley Zeinz.

(We have included all the students who competed on the teams, although some of them have other obligations and will not attend the global competition.)

         The following teams will compete on the global level in May:

·      Placing first in the Dig In challenge on the Elementary School level for state was the Adler Park and Butterfield Team, “Do You Want Cream Cheese With That Bagel?” Members of the team are Lily Ervine, Chase Houser, Celia McDermott-Hinman, Dillon McDonald, Noah Scally, Eric Sparks, and Ryan Tanzer. The Team Manager is Greg Sparks and they will compete at globals.  

·      Being awarded first place on the Middle School level for the state competition for the Dig In challenge was the Highland Middle School team, “Wait, How Do You Say That?” In the challenge, the team has to design and build equipment to detect objects in their hiding places while presenting a story about a technology that detects things a human cannot sense without help. Members of the team are Elias Anderson, Alex Dikelsky, Jacob Dikelsky, Jordan Erdal, Matthew Olson, and Adam Sparks. The Team Manager is Greg Sparks.  The team will compete at globals.

·      Placing first in the state in the Laugh Art Loud challenge was Butterfield School’s “Five for One” team. The team challenge is to present a theatrical comic strip created by real artists while also showing off a Caption Contraption they created for one of the comic strip panels. Team members include Abby Gordon, Kate Hopkins, Nadia Lausch, Ryan McGrory and Maddy Tepper.  The team manager is Saba Lausch. The team will compete at globals.

·      For the Pitch & Play challenge, Copeland Manor’s Beamers team took first place in the state with team members Grace Dillon, Megan Post, Greta Schultz, and Katherine Thomey. The team managers are Tom Thomey and Kurt Schultz. In the service learning challenge, the team designs and carries out a project that addresses a real community need, playing to meet the project goal and using a team-created elevator pitch to enlist help. The group is creating a Game Day in Cook Memorial Park to be held from 4-7 p.m. on May 2.

·      In the Tension Builds challenge, Copeland Manor team “Team T.E.A.M.” placed third in the state with team members Jonathan Ciullo, Liam Gaiden, Grant Giardina, Nathanael Herman, George Huber, Grant Keriazakos and Sean Paden. Team managers are Traci Keriazakos, Stacie Herman and Jean Giardina. In the challenge, the team built a structure that is tested against two forces, design and assemble a prop during the presentation, and also created a story where tension is a threat to stability. The team will compete at globals.

·      In the Pandemonium challenge, Rockland School’s Revenge of the Monkicorns took fourth place and earned a Wild Card to go onto compete at globals. In the challenge the presentation shows how characters work to deal with pandemonium during a certain time period, use stage makeup to develop one skit character and have a five-minute improvisational skit. Team members include Kara Cannon, Madeline Michelotti, Kylie Miller, Jamie Nicholson, Briana Rojas, Sarah Rosten, and Kenzie Shutts. The team manager is Barb Cannon. The team will compete at globlas.