In October, Maria was one of three fifth grade students at her school asked to be part of their first ever Destination Imagination team. The team was made up of three fourth graders and three fifth graders. The goal of DI is complex (and I certainly don't understand it all), but basically the kids are supposed to design their own skit, including costumes and props, around a given goal. The emphasis is on creativity and teamwork. There are five possible "challenges" to choose from, and the Fairbanks term chose "You're Gonna Flip," a story about a change of heart of the main character. Everything, and I mean everything, must be researched, designed, and constructed by the students. Absolutely no interference from any adult is allowed, and they make the students sign a form before the competition stating that everything was student-driven. The competition consists of two parts - their prepared challenge and then an "instant" challenge, and was held at Delaware Hays High School all day yesterday.
The team has been meeting twice a week since Christmas for two hours after school, and once a week on November and December, but they were still doing a lot at the very last minute. There is a ton of requirements for their props, and their challenge included having to construct a puppet. Maria was in charge of this, and she made a very cute sock puppet that was then part of the skit (he was the "Conscience" who tried to guide the main character's behavior.) They also made a lot of their backgrounds out of painted cardboard boxes. Each team was kept to a strict budget of $125. But when we got there yesterday, we saw lots of very elaborate props constructed from wood, and some of the "puppets" were almost life-size. I was concerned we were way out of our league.
No one from our school has ever done this before, and you learn so much the first time you do something. Maria's group did a great performance, the only drawback being that it was very hard to hear most of the performers in the gym (which is why I'm not posting the video). It was clear that their group focused more on the script and the story, but apparently more points were awarded for their use of the props in the story, and as a result their raw score was only about 50% of the total points possible. The appraisers told them they did a good job "for your first year," so right away I knew we weren't going to score very well.
I really believe it was a great experience for the kids - the teamwork involved, the experience of performing and competing, and of course losing is a learning experience too, even though not so much fun to endure. But last night, all Maria cared about was that they had worked really hard, and have nothing (no medals) to show for it. I think as time goes on she'll appreciate the experience more, and the hurt of losing will subside at least somewhat.
The pictures show the group before they competed and at the end where the "appraisers" are talking with the team after the performance. Since I took the video, I don't have very many still shots.
Also worth noting, Mr. Lotycz, their principal, had a family wedding and was not going to be able to make the performance, and had even asked me to watch a copy of the video I was taking. But he got there just in time yesterday, causing him to be late to his niece's wedding, to show support for the six kids who had worked so hard. Impressive to me, especially since it wasn't an athletic event!
And if they had moved on to the state competition, Maria would have had a very difficult time juggling DI and musical practice (she's Chip in the H.S. production of Beauty and the Beast), which starts meeting five days a week. The only reason she did both was because we were pretty sure they wouldn't move onto state since they were so inexperienced at DI. So it's kind of a relief, schedule-wise, that this is over. But a nice 2nd place win would have been nice!
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