CONTACT: Julie Hatchel
Chief Communications Officer
(949) 234-9427
jhatchel@capousd.org
TIJERAS CREEK DESTINATION IMAGINATION TEAM WINS STATE TOURNAMENT
On April 4, the Tijeras Creek Fifth Grade team won the Destination Imagination California State Tournament in San Jose, earning a near perfect score of 391 out of 400, a full 32 points ahead of their closest competitor. This achievement qualifies the team to join teams from other states, as well as 45 countries, in the Global Finals tournament in Knoxville, Tennessee in May.
The team qualified for the state competition when they took second place at the regional tournament in February where they were awarded the prestigious DaVinci award. In San Jose, the team presented an outstanding performance in the central challenge portion of the competition. The team was required to research animal communication based on a team selected habitat and featured creature and then to present their information in an interesting, educational, and entertaining way within an eight minute time frame.
Tijeras Creek DI members Emily Boggess, Jacob Stanley, Alayna Mason, GJ Harrick, Melissa Andrews, Santino Labate, and Andrew Stelling, narrowed their brainstorming to a South Pacific coral reef habitat featuring the Broadclub Cuttlefish. Their extensive research over a period of four months was presented as an engaging television show entitled, “Two Cool Scientists”, complete with a team composed theme song, a commercial starring Zac Efron (played by Andrew Stelling), and the vanquishing of the villainous Dr. Evil. Team members played multiple roles as various sea creatures discovered during their research.
The state appraising team commended these scholars for their clever script and outstanding costumes and scenery, as well as their musical talents. The team also received acclaim for their entrepreneurial spirit and the celebration of team created inventions and forward thinking technologies presented within their solution. We are very proud of these Tijeras Creek scholars. We wish them good luck at the Global Finals tournament in Knoxville, Tennessee.
