Student teams from Thurston Middle School and Laguna Beach High School brought home titles from the statewide California Destination Imagination tournament held April 1 in Sacramento. This is the first time any teams from Laguna Beach have qualified for the global competition set for May 24 in Knoxville, Tenn.
Two teams from Thurston Middle School, the Magnificent Sevens and the Brilliant Boom Bam Bananas, both placed second in their respective challenge categories.
The Sevens’ scientific challenge was to write a script and design and construct a set for a skit involving the use of steganography (hidden information) and cryptography (secure communication), said Cameron Flanagan, who with her partner, Kevin Mullican, managed the Sevens’ team. ” The seventh grade team included Kai Arellano, Finnley Flanagan, Jeff Herkins, Sherwin Riahi, Eliott Schaffer and Christian Yates.
The Bananas’ challenge required structural engineering, materials science, weights research and knowledge of the theme of “many nations working together to solve a global issue.”
The team led by team manager Tanya Hovanesian included eighth graders Evan Henry, Joseph Hovanesian, Jared Moy and Miles Riehle. They created a story around prehistoric dinosaur inventors relying on creativity to deflect an ancient asteroid on a collision course with earth. The team also built a wood structure of 22 grams that could support 500 pounds, Hovanesian said in a statement.
The LBHS team Laguna Code Breakers took on a challenge that involved a secret mission, a gadget with a secret use, and cryptography or steganography. Led by team manager Lisa Herkins, ninth graders Kenneth Chu, Isabel Duong, Andrew Duong, and Kyle Herkins devised a story about the secret mission of two astronauts hunting for trash in outer space. Magic potatoes figure in the plot.
All three teams prepared for over seven months and won the regional tournament hosted by Thurston Middle School on Feb. 17, required to advance to the state tournament. The three Laguna teams, along with 15 others in the state, advance in May to the competition in Knoxville, Tenn.
Three other teams from Laguna also competed, according to Hovanesian.
Team Aquatects competed in the engineering category and was led by Gunn Marie Hansen with seventh graders Odin Flores, Alan You, Vincent Virga, William Coffey, Michael Berg and Zac Chelstelson.
Catnip from Thurston participated in the improv category and was led by John and Tanya Hovanesian with sixth graders Quinn Butler, May and Ophelia Chapman, Ani Hovanesian and Allie Swellen.
The Duck Tape Destroyers from Top of the World competed in the technical challenge and were lead by Natalie Newberry with students Dylan Chestelson, Jacob Cruz, Keira Hundhausen, Dylan Newberry and Tyler Palino.
Local teams now seek sponsors for their travel costs at https://www.gofundme.com/laguna-bch- destination-imagination.
