June Newsletter - City of Alabaster

DESTINATION IMAGINATION TEAM WINS STATE
A group of Thompson
Middle School students
recently won first place in
a statewide creative competition
in Huntsville
known as Destination
Imagination. Coordinated
by TMS teacher Luci
Tucker, the team scored
the maximum number of
points possible in their
division.
“They participated in
the regional competition
first, and they placed first
in that,” said Tucker.
“Then they went to the
state competition, where
they again placed first.
They also received a special
award called the
Renaissance Award, which
is given if the judges feel
the team has exceptional
talent in a certain area.”
According to Tucker,
Destination Imagination is
a creative problem-solving
competition that’s comprised
of two separate components,
a long-term component and
an instant challenge. For the
long-term component, teams
are tasked with solving a
challenge of their choosing
and presenting their solution
at a Destination Imagination
tournament.
“This year, my group
chose the challenge where
they had to create a movie
and then they had to make a
four-minute trailer they
would present live,” said
Tucker. “So they had to
come up with an actual
movie plot and then make
the preview for it, and that’s
the part they presented.
Within that they had to have
their own original music and
they had to have some technical
effects.”
For the instant challenge,
teams are given a problem to
solve onsite, with no prior
36 SEE YOU AT CITYFEST JUNE 2 MUNICIPAL PARK! June, 2012
knowledge of what it might
be. This is a challenge that
rewards critical thinking
and the ability to think on
one’s feet.
“The second component
is called instant challenge,
and that is where they’re
brought into a room and
there’s a scenario they’re
given and they have to
problem-solve instantaneously.
They may have to
build the strongest bridge
out of 20 straws, 10 toothpicks
and five pieces of
tape, and they’ll have five
minutes to do it or something
like that,” said
Tucker.
Tucker, who is the team
manager and school coordinator
for the activity, was
quick to praise the students
themselves for their success.
“This is a totally studentdriven
activity,” said
Tucker.
According to Tucker,
there were four different
TMS teams at the start of the
year. Only one of the four
advanced to the state tournament.
The students spent
time both before and after
school practicing for the
competition and working on
their project.
“I’d set up 20-minute
activities in the morning,
and they’d come in before
school and talk about what
strategies to use and try to
come up with better strategies.
So that’s how we practiced,
to get them thinking
on their toes,” said Tucker.
The members of this
year’s state-winning team
include Emma Fell, Amy
Barber, Lydia Clarke, Iris
Garcia, Makayla Williams,
Sarah Jones, and Jarod
Davis.
The team qualified to
advance to the global
Destination Imagination
competition in
Knoxville, Tenn.