‘Mission’ accomplished for Beach Park Middle School girls
By Tina Johansson Special to The News-Sun April 20, 2011 10:30PM
Beach Park Middle School Destination ImagiNation team (left to right) Karina Olvera, 14, Andrea Bailon, 14, Kaylin McBride, 13, Nicole Neale, 14, Karla Wence, 13, Alexis Ransom, 14 and teacher Katie Cranmer. The team took first place in the state in the Imrpov Challenge. They will now compete in the Global Finals held in Tennessee May 24-29, 2011. | Thomas Delany Jr.~Sun-Times Media
The next level
Beach Park Middle School is raising money to participate in the DI International Competition May 24 to May 29 at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. More than 1,000 elementary, middle school, high school and college teams will be competing in multiple challenges. Over 20,000 people are expected to attend.
“We’re super excited about going to globals for the first time,” said team member Karla Wence. Planning to attend the globals are the six girls, teacher Teacher Katie Cranmer and another coach, Jeanne Lohfink.
Cranmer said it will cost about $8,000 for students to attend the global event, and so far they have raised around $6,000. “Every little bit helps, and donations are tax deductible,” she said.
To donate, contact Cranmer at (847) 596-5836.
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Updated: May 22, 2011 12:16AM
Six eighth-grade students from Beach Park Middle School have brought home a first place trophy and winning smiles.
Nicole Neale, Andrea Bailon, Karla Wence, Alexis Ransom, Karina Olvera and Kaylin McBride competed and won first place in the Destination ImagiNation state finals April 9, held at the Illinois State University in Normal.
Beach Park won first place in Mythology Mission, the improvisational challenge in the middle-school level. Jefferson Middle school in Waukegan came in second place in the improv challenge.
Teacher Katie Cranmer, the Destination ImagiNation coordinator for the district, said she has been working with kids to compete in the DI challenges for eight years.
“So far this is the best year we’ve had,” she said. “Only the top three improv teams from each region advance to state,” said Cranmer. “We competed against eight other teams — nine total, for the state championship.”
Her students competed in one of six challenges provided by DI, Mythology Mission. The challenge involved creating a five-minute improvisational skit about a mission involving a mythical creature. Students had to incorporate research about a particular culture from a country.
Cranmer said the challenge helped students research and understand different cultures, and learn mythology, improvisational acting, story development, theater arts and teamwork.
Eighth-grader Nicole Neale said she liked the camaraderie with her teammates and really enjoyed competing. Fellow student Alexis Ransom said, “My favorite DI moment was our performance at state because we loved how the judges and audience reacted to our songs and humor in our skit.”
According to Diana Baldi, Far North Illinois regional director for Illinois Destination ImagiNation, other Lake County winners who participated in the state competition this month were Libertyville School District, first place in Unidentified Moving Object, the mechanical engineering Challenge, elementary level; Waukegan High School won first place in Unidentified Moving Object, the mechanical engineering challenge; Waukegan Jefferson Middle school placed third in Unidentified Moving Object, the mechanical engineering challenge, middle school level.
Sheila Shifrin, librarian and DI coordinator for Deerfield District 109 said 17 teams competed from her district and seven teams will be heading for the global competition in Tennessee.
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