MEEKER I Meeker Elementary School had five teams participate in Destination Imagination on Saturday at the Western Slope Regional Tournament, and two of those teams will continue on to the DI State Finals in April.
From there, winning teams would continue on to the Global Finals in Tennessee.
Destination Imagination is a worldwide program that encourages teams of learners to have fun, take risks, focus and frame challenges while incorporating STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics), the arts and service learning.
Participants learn patience, flexibility, persistence, ethics, respect for others and their ideas, and the collaborative problem-solving process.
Teams of seven students prepare a solution to a given challenge with no outside help, assistance or guidance, and they then showcase their solution at the tournaments.
The fifth grade team going to the Colorado State Finals in Denver captured third place at regionals. The team of “The Seven Geeky Marshmallows of Blooperginin Gizmo” includes Savannah Mendenhall, Regan Mobley, Gabriel Richardson, Gage Richardson, Shane Kobald, Aspen Merrifield and Hadley Franklin. Team managers are Stephanie Kobald and Nancy Richardson.
The fourth grade team going to the state finals in Denver who took second place at regionals is the “SSJ Beans” and includes Kaden Franklin, Elijah LeBlanc, Ruby Holliday, Melayni Wangnild and Brealyn Garcia. Team managers are Amber Garcia and Shana Holliday.
The third grade team, the “Colorado Code Breaking Chompers,” consists of Abbi Schwartz, Oliver Holmes, Gabe Smithers, Opal Munger, Allison Kobald, Eva Scritchfield and Elliot Steinacher. Team Managers are Lisa Belmonte and Heather Sauls.
The first first-grade team, the “Rocking Minions,” is made up of Samantha Sevillano, Shailee Rundberg, Dillon Pretti, Augie Halstead, Sam Smithers and Lissbeth Sanchez. Team managers are Dilly Gutierrez and Mayra Sanchez.
The second first-grade team, the “First Grade Rock Stars,” consists of Emma Bauer, Dublin Price, Hayden Garcia, Sage Preston, Matthew Willey and Sam Conrado. Team managers are Ellen Conrado and Becky Brennan-Bauer.
The Meeker Arts and Cultural Council, Meeker Embroidery and Meeker Sand and Gravel sponsored the teams and provided the team T-shirts.