By Meg Peters
Review Co-Editor
With the Polar Macaw and Barb the Evil Magician, two teams of students from St. Joe’s Catholic School placed in the top ten at Destination ImaginNation Global Finals.
Competing against 17 countries, 1,468 teams and over 8,000 students, divisions were narrowed down by team age and challenge selection.
The eighth grade team, ‘The Glorious Little Monkeys,? captured the middle Level second place trophy, with their creation of ‘Dark Barb,? the evil magician who tricks the Snake Charmer, Bunny Whisperer and Binger Manager in a series of creative scenarios.
The fourth-fifth grade team, ‘The Three P’s,? which stood for The Polar Parrot People, earned an eighth place finish in the Elementary Level for their polar-macaw and homemade video game Save the Planet.
Destination Imagination is a universal program where teams of up to seven students solve complex, out of the box mind challenges with unique approaches and solutions.
Both St. Joe’s teams chose from a list of challenges, selecting the technical challenge, this year titled the ‘Creature Feature? where each team had to generate a creature that performed at least three actions , and a story world the creature and students performed in.
Dark-Barb, the evil magician, was a six-foot-tall, PVC pipe-man powered by a pneumatic system, or air pressure system, which powered both his dance moves and magic performance. His final action’lifting a glass to his mouth and drinking’was powered by an RC car attached to a block and tackle pulley system. Dark-Barb’s story was simple’rob the Snake Charmer, Bunny Whisperer and Bingo Manager of their goods and ensue on a wild goose chase through a series of pop-up-book levels in a 16×8? life-size story book.
The Polar Macaw, a combination of endangered species the polar bear and macaw, heavily researched by The 3 P’s, experienced a different twist.
After falling into human video game Save the Planet, through a locker, the team had to successfully guide the Polar Macaw from the arctic to the rainforest in several different levels. The Polar Macaw also performed three functions. Powered by an electromagnet, the creature could eat and ‘fly? via a zip line, and, with a set of wheels, the Polar Macaw could run.
‘These are the batteries, and the electricity runs through the wires, and little red wires spiral around a piece of metal, and the electricity gives the piece of metal magnetic properties,? team member Ryan Neihso explained.
Not only did each team present a well-thought-out project, they were also required to perform an instant challenge in less than five minutes. This was eighth grade team member Chris Demartinis? favorite part, something they are not allowed to discuss openly.
‘You just have to go in there blind, and figure it out what to do. It’s a rush trying to get it done in the amount of time they give you. You need teamwork, and to listen to people that might have better ideas than you,? he said.
All in all, students had a great time.
‘It feels good after you perform,? eighth grader Elliot Johnson said.
‘My favorite part was watching how everyone else decided what to do,? younger team member Analisa Martinez said.
This is St. Joe’s seventeenth year participating in Destination Imagination, and the eleventh year in a row the school’s teams have earned a trip to globals by placing first, second or third at both regional and state competition.
The fourth-fifth grade team placed third at regionals and second at states, whereas the eighth grade team placed first in regionals and second at states.
It is St. Joe’s fifth year in a row to earn a top four finish at Global Finals.