Five teams within the Edison Local School District have advanced to the state Destination Imagination competition after taking the top spots at regionals.
Destination Imagination, or D.I., is an educational program where teams compete by working to solve open-ended challenges and presenting solutions in such categories as fine arts, technical and service learning. In return, the youth gain knowledge and experience in critical thinking and teamwork as well as build STEM and conflict resolution skills. District D.I. Coordinator Kelly Dopp said the teams will head to Barberton High School on March 29 after earning first place in their respective categories at the regional tournament March 1 near Cleveland. Those teams included The Sunshiners, The King Pigs and The Dodecahedrons from John Gregg and The Fantastic Five and Us from Edison Jr. High School, and Dopp said hopes are to return to the Global Finals on May 22-25 in Kansas City, Mo.
“They will compete against more teams from across the state and first place gets to go to the globals,” Dopp said. “The two teams that went to globals last year are going to the states this month.”
Two-time finalists Us earned 10th place in the world for their category last year while The Baconators (now known as The Sunshiners) gained 13th place in the elementary fine arts challenge.
During the recent regional tournament, Us members Connor Richardson, Nathan Myers, Beckett Dopp, Olivia Ferguson, Daleanee Devore and Lindsey Howell participated in the middle school technical challenge while the Sunshiners’ Nash Bendle, Arya Long, Bode Berardinelli, Kyler Blancato, Chase Blancato and Olivia Rees competed in the elementary engineering category. Rounding out the groups were the King Pigs’ Landon Ankrom, Parker Reed, Nolan Powell, Lakyn Howell, Cadence Bendle, Adrianna Miller and Carson Ensinger, who took part in the middle-level fine arts category; The Dodecahedrons’ Casher Dopp, Briar Bendle, Brody Champion, Clairanne Jolly, Luke Bissett, Kinsely Cline and Maddox Richardson, who competed in the middle-level scientific competition; and The Fantastic Five’s Noah Lucas, Learynn Hanson, Lillian Magby, Lanie Kruel and Ethan Warren, who participated in the middle-level category.
“We’ve had a similar number of teams go to states in the past and I’m proud of them,” Dopp added. “They’ve been working very hard.”
Should any of the teams advance to the Global Finals, they will be among more than 1,000 teams from across the U.S. to as far as China that are expected to gather at the Kansas City Convention Center.