FARMINGTON — Five members of a Destination Imagination Team at Mt. Blue Middle School created a phobia, a song and dance and a solution to solve the Feary Tale Challenge that earned them first place at the state tournament.
For three of the members and team manager Lynn Wells, a fifth-grade teacher, it is the second year in a row a team they were on took first place.
It is also the second year they will be fundraising to compete at Global Finals on May 20-23 at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.
The team known as Halloween Funks had eight minutes to set up and present its solution, including a song and dance they created to the tune of “Uptown Funk” during the state tournament March 28, Wells said.
The intent of the challenge was for the team to create and present an original Feary Tale about a character dealing with a phobia.
To solve the problem, they researched fairy tales and a phobia, created a piece of functional and expressive artwork and designed and created an illusion, she said.
The Halloween Funks decided to create twins, with one having a phobia to Halloween, sixth-grader Rachel Spear of Farmington said. In the end, the opposite twin gets the phobia.
They didn’t want the Feary Tale to be scary or to have royalty so they chose to make it funny.
The judges laughed through their presentation, Wells said.
It was surprising, especially winning two years in a row, seventh-grader Chelsie Berkey of Farmington Falls said.
“I was surprised,” Kayleigh Brisard, a seventh-grader from New Sharon, said.
“It was pretty exciting,” sixth-grader Emma White of New Sharon said.
It was a tough competition, Spear said.
Sixth-grader Charlie Eng of New Sharon became ill and couldn’t stay for the announcement of the winning teams.
The team earned scores higher than three high school teams, Wells said. They also have reviewed their team’s scores and know what they have to work on to improve before competing in Tennessee, she said.
Plans are ongoing to raise money for the trip. Wells estimated just for team members it will cost $5,000 to $6,000.
She has set up a Fundly fundraiser for people to donate money for the trip at https://fundly.com/mbms-global-competition. Donations can also be sent with checks made payable to MBMS DI Team and sent to MBMS DI Team, 269 Middle St., Farmington, ME 04938.
dperry@sunmediagroup.net
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