District 70 Sends at least One Team to World Competition

Students from at least one Libertyville Elementary District 70 team involved in an international problem-solving program, Destination Imagination, will compete on the world stage in May when they represent their school in the Global competition.

Destination Imagination challenges students in problem-solving techniques. This year, students from Adler Park, Butterfield, Copeland Manor, Rockland and Highland Middle made up 23 separate DI teams to compete in the regional competition held March 3 at Viking Middle School in in Grayslake, Il. Eight of those teams placed in the top three slots and competed on the state level on March 24. Now, up to four teams may compete in the world competition known as the Globals to be held May 23 in Knoxville, Tenn.

The sponsors for all the District 70 teams this year are teachers Kristen Morden and Teresa Crandell, Karen McLean, Analise Deflorio, Danya Sundh, and Ashley Zeinz.

The following teams will compete on the global level on May 23 at the University of Tennessee:

Being awarded second place in state on the Middle School level for the technical Maze Craze challenge was the Highland Middle School team "Fill In Here." In the challenge, the team must design and build a device to navigate a tournament-provided maze and build a prop that transformed in the maze. Team members are Chase Houser, Elias Irizi, Noah Scally, Eric Sparks, and Ryan Tanzer with parent Managers Vicky Sparks and Greg Sparks.

"Most of this team has been together since first grade," said veteran parent manager Greg Sparks.

"I know with our own son, he always wanted to follow in his brothers footsteps. His first trip to Globals was at the age of 2 to cheer on his older brother's teams. Eric grew up in DI and now all of the Sparks team's (high school and middle school) are like family. It is a very large group of kids who now treat each other like brothers and sisters. The teams have learned so much. They come up with ideas and then do a lot of the research on YouTube. They have figured out how to build things that I cannot even explain. We are so proud of them and truly enjoy watching them learn new things with all of their DI projects."

District 70 teams coming in at third place in the state competition, leaving them open to a lottery to decide if the team advanced onto the Global level were:

Being awarded third place at state on the Elementary School level for the fine arts Change of Tune challenge was Butterfield School team "DIentific Four." In the challenge, the team creates and presents a musical that includes a change in plans. Members of the team are Bryce Dusault, Alex Brown, Olivia Flayter, and Olivia Steffensen with parent Manager Jessica Brown.

Also being awarded third place in state and open to the lottery on going to Globals for the Elementary School level for the engineering Drop Zone challenge was Rockland team "So Sugary, So Delicious." In the challenge, team members design, build and test a freestanding structure that can withstand impact from items dropped on it and tell a story about a sudden event with dramatic impact. Team members are Leah Kallemeyn, Catherine Schickler, Jillian Frey, Delaney Rybicki, , Erin Duffy, Nara Feng, and Sarah Barbee with parent Managers Leanne Kallemeyn and Susan Schickler.

Also placing third at state and open to the lottery on going to the Globals for the elementary School level for the Inside Impact service project challenge was the Adler Park School team, "Musical Minion Masterminds." In the challenge, the team has to identify, design and carry out and evaluate a project that addresses a need in a real community and create a storage device that transforms as the story of the project unfolds. Members of the team are Evan Hickman, Nicholas Ozimek, Maxwell Schleiden and David Taranowski with parent Manager Beth Schleiden.

Here's how the other teams did:

On the state level, the Adler Park School team "Lucky Lollipops" came in at 12th place for the elementary school level for the scientific Unlikely Attraction challenge. Team members were Michael Bowman, Lewis Eriksen, Andrew Hodge, Colin Krzeminski, Jake Sterling Simpson, and Athan Vlahos, with parent Manager Sara Eriksen.

Being awarded eighth place at state on the Elementary School level for the fine arts Change of Tune challenge was Adler Park School team "#finerats." Team members were Iliana Causemaker, Mackenzie Dailey, Liane Lin, Caroline Mahadevan, Chloe Schleiden, and Kali Woodworth, with parent Manager Shane Dailey.

Being awarded fourth place at state on the Elementary School level for the improvisational Treasure challenge was Butterfield School team "Ethan 2 Bailed!" In the challenge, the team researched different cultures and famous explorers and presented an improvisational skit about a quest to return a lost cultural treasure. Team members were Reece Foley, Thomas Lakomiak, Christian Slago, Ethan Seddon, and Charlie Snook, with parent Manager Richard Foley.

Being awarded ninth place at state on the Elementary School level for the improvisational Treasure challenge was the Copeland Manor Team "Bananas." Team members were Alyssa Huber, Elizabeth Thomey, Eesha Gupta, Maggie Anderson, Cecilia Tu, and Jackson McKay, with parent Managers Sara Anderson and Colleen Huber.