BUCKFIELD – Five students from the Buckfield Junior-Senior High School are among the four teams from SAD 39 invited to the state Destination Imagination Celebration at the University of Maine at Orono on Saturday.
The seventh- and eighth-graders wrote and produced their own skit, “Live! It’s RaDIo DI!” without any adult help.
The students wrote a skit set in World War II America. Their radio play includes a cooking show to help “mighty women warriors” create “a delicious dessert that is both thrifty and flavorful” using rationed ingredients and “victory garden veggies.” The students researched life in 1940s America both on the Internet and by interviewing their grandparents.
The “RaDIo DI” challenge requires that the students include five elements in their plays. There must be an eccentric character. All sound effects must be done live. There must be a cliffhanger. There must be a commercial for an outlandish product. Finally, the students must create a distinctive flag for their team.
The Buckfield team went far beyond simply meeting the requirements. There are 19 separate sound effects in their five-minute skit. Among them are a flute, balloon and the breaking of kindling over a student’s knee. Their radio program also includes a commercial for “Multipoo, a shampoo that cleans your hair and cleans your laundry, too.”
The team based its flag on an emblem from the uniform worn by team member Kristen MacBride’s grandfather when he served in World War II. MacBride also wore her grandfather’s uniform for a photo used on one of the team’s posters.
The team’s faithfulness to the World War II era earned them the Renaissance Award at the regional competition last month. A third-grade team from Hartford-Sumner Elementary School received the Da Vinci Award at regionals for its costumes. The two teams will be joined by two other teams from Hartford-Sumner Elementary at the state competition Saturday.
Comments are no longer available on this story