Heading to Global Finals!

To Friends of Creative Problem Solvers:  

Teams from Edgar Murray Elementary Gifted education classes recently participated in the MO state final creative problem solving competition called Destination Imagination (DI).  Both fourth grade teams qualified to advance to Global Finals, an international competition to be held over 5 days, May 24-28, on the campus of the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.  Students from over 15 countries, grades three through university level, will be competing, and 8,000 students and 17,000 attendees are expected to participate.

The four-member team, "Secret Cypher Squad," won first place in the Scientific category, Top Secret, and the five-member team "Red Ripe Potatoes" came in second in the Fine Arts category, “Vanished!”  Because there was only one point separating them from first place, they were chosen as the state "Wild Card" team.

We are very excited to be representing the state of Missouri at Global Finals, but we need help to get there. It costs $750.00 for each student to attend plus one adult team manager.  This includes housing, meals, and activities for the entire stay.  We need to raise $7,500.00 in order to participate in this amazing opportunity!

We are setting up a variety of fundraisers locally, including a lock-in at the school, car wash, flower sale, and bake sale.  Because we are a small, rural community, we are also seeking sponsors.  Several of our team members do not have the financial means to cover the costs involved.  It is our hope that you will consider helping send these talented kids to compete!

Platinum sponsor (Sponsor 1 Student) - $750 or more:  an ad on the back of our teams’ t-shirts, a free t-shirt, a framed 5 x 7 photo of the teams at Global Finals, a team pin, and recognition in the Bulldog Bulletin, our Facebook page, and Twitter.  

Gold sponsor - $200:  4x4" ad on the back of our teams’ t-shirts,  t-shirt, pin, 5x7 photo, and recognition in the Bulldog Bulletin.

Silver sponsor - $100:  2 X 3 1/2" ad on the back of t-shirt, 5x7 photo

Bronze sponsor -$50:  1 line on the back of the team t shirt

If you’d like more information about Destination Imagination, Global Finals, or our Challenge classroom, you can visit the following:  

Global Finals

Destination Imagination

Challenge Webpage

For questions, feel free to contact Jennifer Hawkins:  jhawkins@stcmo.org

Checks payable to:  St. Clair R-XIII

Please send donations to:

Edgar Murray Elementary

Challenge Program                                       

1044 High School Drive       

Team Building

We are starting the school year off with a lot of team building. Team building is important for many reasons. It promotes collaboration between classmates, fosters creativity, enhances leadership skills, and aids overall communication. Each class participated in three team challenges.

 1. Marker Message: Several strings were tied to a dry-erase marker. Each student held a string, and they worked together to write a message. This challenge is much harder than it looks, but all teams were ultimately successful.

2.  Toxic Waste:  A bungee cord was attached around a bucket holding tennis balls.  Ropes were tied to the bungee cord.  Each student held the end of a rope.  The object was to dump the tennis ball into the empty bucket without touching the toxic waste or bucket.  

3.  Hollywood Improv:  This was an acting challenge.  Students had to choose a random character, setting, problem, plot, movie quote, and props to use in an original team-created movie trailer.  

Missouri Creative Adventures

It was another great year at MOCA, Missouri's Destination Imagination state competition!  All three of our teams earned trophies, and the SelfieZ are advancing to Global Finals in Knoxville, Tennessee! We're so proud of our creative problem solvers!  

DIgos:  Jace and Tara earned 3rd place for their Fine Arts Challenge, "Get a Clue."  They successfully acted out five characters with two people!  I absolutely loved the performance and the artwork!

SelfieZ:  Oliver and Alana earned 2nd place for their Project Outreach Challenge, "The Meme Event," and they are moving on to Global Finals!  They have been teaching others about self-acceptance!  Everyone should love their "SelfieZ."

Quintuple Quiddities:  Emily, Jolee, Lilly, Ashton, and Alyssa earned 3rd place in their Improv. Challenge, Close Encounters.  Their performance had the audience going bananas!  

Building a Crane

This week's Instant Challenge required students to build a crane to hold weight.

Ice Cream Cone Stack

We started the year off with some Instant Challenges...SWEET!  This week, students were challenged to stack as many ice cream cones on a basketball as possible.  They were given string, rubber bands, clothes pins, pipe cleaners, spoons, Dixie cups, and a CD to assist with this task.  The cones could not touch each other or the table.  We have some very creative problem solvers!

Destination Imagination Challenge Previews

The Destination Imagination 2014-2015 Challenge Previews are out!  The previews will give you an idea which challenge your team may want to solve.  Grades 4-5 participate in Destination Imagination.

Creature Feature:  Would you like build a creature that performs a technical task?

Making Waves:  Would you like to design a sound machine?

Lose to Win:  Would you like to build a structure with removable parts?

Feary Tales:  Would you like to create a fairy tale about a phobia?

Brand Aid:  Would you like to address a need in the community?

The Improv. Games:  Would you like to perform improvisational sketches about street performances?  

Heading to Global Finals!