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East students prepare for global competition
East students prepare for world competition
By Denise Dick
YOUNGSTOWN
They learned about teamwork and quick thinking, earning them entry in a worldwide competition.
Four East High School students will be traveling later this month to Knoxville, Tenn., to compete in the Global Finals of Destination Imagination.
Seniors Kayla Mitchell and Tyaonnia Fox-Davis and sophomores Devon Culver and Donna Bennett earned that berth based on their performance at the regional and state Destination Imagination events.
Their skit in the community outreach category focused on bullying and employed a jingle, a rap and puppets.
“Be a buddy not a bully. Take a
stand join our hands,” the jingle chants.
The category requires students to identify a community need and develop a plan to address it. Leading up to the previous competitions, the team invited students and community members to participate in an event making T-shirts, keychains, bracelets and lanyards, bearing a anti-bullying message. All of that work was part of the entry that won second place in the state tournament.
“When we heard third place, we thought we didn’t make it,” Donna said.
Then the announcer called their team number for second place.
Kayla said team members were so tired from working so hard the night before that the significance of their accomplishment didn’t sink in.
“The next day, after we got more sleep, then we were excited and celebrated,” she said.
Jeanne Constantino, an East High teacher and the DI adviser, attributes the team’s success to its openness to change. If adjustments had to be made — even at the last minute — the teammates rose to the challenge.
“When we’re at the event, we have to check the rubric to make sure, are we doing everything they want us to do,” Constantino said. “If we don’t do everything they want, we don’t get the points.”
The team still needs to raise $1,000 to cover all of the trip costs and plans bake and pepperoni-roll sales to help. They also set up a GoFundMe page at www.gofundme.com/sgw47yg seeking donations.
A team from Youngstown Early College also will head to Globals and needs to raise $5,000. It plans candy and raffle ticket sales and also set up a page, www.gofundme.com/yecdiglobals.
Two Howland schools teams, one from North Road Elementary School and one that includes students from both Howland Middle School and H.C. Mines Intermediate School, earned entry in the DI Global Finals, also.
The Howland North Road team has a Fundly site, https://fundly.com/sending-kids-to-globals-for-destination-imagination.
The H.C. Mines team is selling coffee as a fundraiser. Information is available at www.givingbean.com/store/home.php?partner=06e31#.VUI6NcerZJk.
In the skit, Donna and Tyaonnia operate the three hand puppets made by the team: Ralph the bully; Samantha, Ralph’s victim and Alex, Samantha’s friend.
Devon and Kayla schooled Ralph on the evils of bullying, inviting all three puppets to an anti-bullying event, both singing the jingle and Devon rapping. Team members also designed, built and painted the set as part of their project. The set which incorporates the team’s logo of hands joined across a heart, includes samples of media coverage of their anti-bullying event and names of community partners forming a puzzle.
Devon and Tyaonnia said the whole team spent a lot of time together.
“We were all friends before, now we’re like a family,” Devon said.