JAY – Three of four Jay DestiNation Imagination problem-solving teams have advanced to the State DI Celebration in Orono Saturday, April 5.

Members of the grade eight “connecDId” team are Ben Harvell, Stacey Kenney, Logan Frey, Jenna Dubord and Kevin Libby. Volunteers Lois Kenney and Mavis Dubord are team managers and parent Matt Gaudet assists with weights. The team’s 30-gram glueless balsa structure supports over 500 pounds.

The grades eight to 10 “viDIo adventure” team competes in the high school division. Ben Lofton, Christian Cole, Jeremie Breton, Brandon Johnson, Vincent Duguay, Scott Richards, and Drew McLain created unique costumes, props and a marionette to seek and retrieve items. Annette Johnson is volunteer manager.

Jay DestiNation Imagination coordinator Deb Probert manages a grade five “change in DIrection” team that competes at the elementary level. Dylan Castonguay, Tyler Buck, Austin Clark, Ann Harvell, Kelsey Doiron, Kassidi Farrington and Beth Bibeau chose a global warming theme. Staff volunteers Sylvia Desjardins, Dave Marquis and Tammy Lindsey assisted.

Volunteer managers Mary Howes and Nancy Crocker’s “theater smARTs” grade six-seven team of Sam Howes, Ryan Crocker, Miles Hutchinson, Amanda Bonnevie and Laurilyn Tardif completed a performance requiring drama techniques, moving set design, art and music.

Michael Morrell, a Jay High School graduate in 2001 and a member of the DI team that placed first in Maine, volunteered at Jay Middle School since December, practicing “Instant Challenge” problems after school with the four teams. Morrell is currently a full-time education major at the University of Maine at Farmington.

Last fall, nearly 200 DI teams statewide registered to tackle one of five challenge problems. In March, the teams met at the Western, South Central, North Central or Down East Regional Celebrations. First-place teams in Saturday’s competition will go on to DI Globals at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville on Memorial Day weekend.

Each team must provide a volunteer appraiser. Jay’s 2003 appraisers have also been invited to appraise at the state meet. They include Ellen Grunblatt, Ethan Bien, Lois King, Jill Coffren, and Clinton King.

Each team must also provide a volunteer to assist with team registrations, score tabulation, and lunches for appraisers, among many other tasks. Jeannie Gaudet, Cheryl Cole, Sheri Buck, Ella Coffren and other team parents were volunteers.

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