For a group of seventh-graders from Rundlett Middle School, Destination Imagination has evolved to destination: Knoxville.
The six plucky and personable group members problem-solved and teamworked their way through the Destination Imagination competition – a series of mind-bending challenges solved at tournaments at the local and state level – well enough to earn a spot in the DI Global Final at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville beginning May 22, becoming the first team from Rundlett ever to do so. Now they must solve perhaps their most difficult puzzle in order to make that appearance – coming up with roughly $9,000 in a little more than a month’s time.
“It was so exciting,” Glenn Rand, the team’s manager, said of the announcement that they’d qualified after the state meet in Salem. “But it really set in as we were walking out – how are we going to pay for this?”
Team members Emily Haywood-Minery, Hailey Rand, Skyler Mathews, Erica Conrad, Josh Pauley and Ashley Sigrist have taken to the streets of Concord, visiting local businesses and residents to seek assistance. Thanks to that work, as well as large donations from the Abbot-Downing and Rundlett PTOs, Rand said the group is approaching the halfway point in its fundraising effort.
Mustering the courage to go door-to-door was no problem for this group, which doesn’t lack in the personality department. They are proud of their achievement in the halls of their own building – “we made Rundlett history,” said team member Emily Haywood-Minery – even if putting six colorful characters in a room together can often produce combustible results.
“We have such bold personalities, some days we work awesome together and some days we crash,” Haywood-Minery admitted.
For evidence of that chemistry in action, look no further than the team’s name, Billy and the Pineapples, an off-the-cuff joke about a puzzle they solved that they didn’t know would be set in stone once they signed up for the competition.
Said Haywood-Minery: “We thought it was genius at the time; we’ve accepted it.”
The real genius is more likely in the project the group selected to work on for the competition this year. Destination Imagination contests feature an initial instant challenge, which is different at every stop and requires members to use problem-solving abilities to work together for a solution, as well as another challenge selected ahead of time from a number of categories. Billy and the Pineapples selected project outreach, which requires identifying a community need and working to solve it, and chose to educate the community on the effects of bullying.
Team members filmed and produced a three-minute documentary about bullying in schools (viewable on their Facebook page) and held a bullying rally with the fifth-graders at Abbot-Downing School, collecting anonymous surveys about bullying and holding honest and frank discussions.
As team manager, Rand was able to consult with the group, but the students had to do all the work themselves, which meant committing an often unspeakable middle school act – voluntarily visiting the principal’s office. They coordinated the bullying rally with Principal Tom Sica and planned the entire thing down to the smallest detail.
The survey produced some startling results, with 76 percent of fifth-graders saying they had been bullied and 46 percent saying they had been bullies. It’s a topic that is sensitive to most anyone who has gone through middle school, including those charged with making the presentation.
“The first couple of meetings, they did some brainstorming, and there were a lot of tears. It hits home,” Rand said. “It’s a tough subject, and this group is kind of a crazy group, so I was kind of surprised when they picked it. I didn’t know if they had it in them. But they obviously did. They proved me wrong.”
Identifying a problem was only one part of the equation, though. The team picked fifth-graders because they knew they would be heading to Rundlett next year, and the goal is to try to curb bullying and have a follow-up discussion sometime next school year.
“We asked them, where do you see bullying the most, and a lot of them said Rundlett. That kind of surprised me, because none of them go there yet,” said team member Hailey Rand. “That’s why we wanted to talk to the fifth grade specifically. We were’t just doing a skit, we were actually trying to help people.”
The students’ work was certainly recognized. They survived a regional meet in Kingston and ultimately finished second in their category at the state meet featuring more than 110 teams, becoming one of roughly 35 teams from New Hampshire to earn a spot in the global ceremony, which features teams from 45 states, seven Canadian provinces and 13 other countries, according to the Destination Imagination website (which not-so-humbly refers to the global congregation as “the world’s largest celebration of creativity.”)
The next step is Tennessee, assuming they can reach their financial goal. Those interested in donating can reach Rand via email at can_o_peaches@yahoo.com or by phone at 369-9354. Checks should be made payable to RMS PTO, with Destination Imagination in the memo line.
If all goes well, Rand will be hoping to repeat the feeling he had when the team qualified for the final step in the long process.
“I got choked up, I’ve got to say,” Rand said. “It’s exciting. To think from last year, they’ve been working so hard. Just to see them recognized for it was awesome.”
