Local students advance to global finals

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SPECIAL TO THE VINDICATOR Members of the high-school engineering team that won first place, from left, are Roman Booth, Seth Birch, Klara Crisp, Emily Dubois, Richard Ulam, Darius Surgenavic and Cameron Fortune.

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SPECIAL TO THE VINDICATOR Middle-school engineering team members, from left, are Riley Lockwood, Emily Huber, Nikko Ramirez, Tony Kocanjer and Ella Nichols.

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SPECIAL TO THE VINDICATOR Members of the middle-school improv team, from left, are Finnegan Carney, Delaney Finsley, Mia Strohecker, Aly Smith, Chelsee Chafee, Joey Baylor and Preston Dawson.

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SPECIAL TO THE VINDICATOR High-school Project Outreach team members, from left, are Noah Silver, Bekah Silver, Zoe Finsley and Marissa Makosky.

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SPECIAL TO THE VINDICATOR High-school Improv team members, from left, are Paige Herbert, Hudson Hartley, Harmony Offenburg, Logan Pasco, Taylor Gooch and Alyssa Swank.

Staff report

COLUMBIANA

Two middle- and three high-school teams from Columbiana Exempted Village Schools will travel to Knoxville, Tenn., for the Destination Imagination Global Finals from May 24 to 27.

The teams, with a combined total of 29 students, recently qualified for the finals through the state competition.

One of the high-school teams earned first place in the engineering category by using three pieces of balsa wood and adhesive to create a load-bearing structure weighing only 12 grams, but capable of holding 575 pounds. At the finals, they will compete against more than 8,000 students from 45 states and 14 countries.

Two Columbiana teams will compete in the engineering/structural challenge category, two will compete in the improvisational category, and the fifth will compete in project outreach.

All five will compete in one of six open-ended central challenges that require students to apply science, technology, engineering, arts and math skills.

They also will participate in an instant challenge, which is a fast-paced problem-solving collaboration.

Traveling and competing in the finals will cost more than $20,000, and the students will host fundraisers, including:

Make It and Take It painting and mini-comic book workshop, 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday at Southside Middle School, 720 Columbiana-Waterford Road.

Pancake breakfast, 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday at Columbiana First Presbyterian Church Fellowship Hall, 28 E. Park Ave.

Car wash, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. May 13 at Columbiana Pizza Hut, 300 state Route 14

Vendor’s fair at Springtime in Columbiana, May 7.

Trivia Challenge Night, 7 p.m. May 19 at Columbiana High School, 700 Columbiana-Waterford Road.

Students also are selling roses and massage gift certificates for Mother’s Day; frozen hamburger and mild sausage patties from Horst Packing; and Handel’s gift cards.

For information or to donate, contact Stephanie Baylor at 330-853-5546 or stephanie.baylor@columbianaschools.org.