SOUTH PARIS — The Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School Destination Imagination team will represent Maine at the Global Competition in Tennessee in May.

Destination Imagination is a program that celebrates creative problem solving and team work. Every year, each DI team chooses to work on one of five different types of challenges. Teams in three general age groups, elementary, middle and secondary, have many months to prepare creative solutions to their challenges.

In March, the teams presented at a Zone Level. During these competitions, each team also competed in an Instant Challenge, where they are presented with a task and given minutes to come up with a creative solution. The combined scores of the Central and Instant challenges determine team standings.

At the Zone competition, the top three teams at each level, in each challenge, are invited to compete at the state level. The highest scoring teams at the state competition are then invited to represent the state in a Global Competition. This year, Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School sent two teams to the state competition, held on April 10 in Orono.

The team coached by Genevieve Ricard took third place for their challenge “You’re Gonna Flip!,” which consisted of creating a skit in which a character “flipped” or had a major change of view. The team also had to incorporate a team-created puppet, and a piece of live visual art to help tell their story. The students on this include Rachel Curit, Sheldon Greene, Mariah Kimball, Rebecca Verosloff, Jason Aube and Zebb Duffany.

The team coached by Ellen Burnham took first place in the challenge “Breaking DI News,” a challenge that revolved around building a weight-bearing structure. The team had to pick a news article from another country and present it in a skit. They also had to create the structure purely out of newsprint and glue, weighing less than 75 grams. At the state level, the team’s structure held 360 pounds.

Burnham’s team will advance to the global level, and is fundraising to pay for room, food and travel costs. To made a tax deductible donation, make checks payable to Oxford Hills Music, Art and Drama (OHMAD) and mail to: Treasurer Darlene Rogers, 30 Farm View Lane, South Paris, ME 04281.


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