Team Puts Imagination to the Test

Seven fast-thinking seventh-graders from St. Bernardine of Siena Elementary School in Woodland Hills took first place in the state Destination Imagination competition for their problem-solving skills.

The students beat out teams from 15 regions in the state. They’ll put their brain power to the test again at next month’s national competition at Iowa State University.

Destination Imagination is designed to encourage creative thinking and problem-solving skills in students from kindergarten through college. It tests their ability to think on their feet and to solve a long-term problem over a few months.

“When you just learn facts out of a book, that doesn’t teach the kids how to be creative or any kind of divergent thinking,” parent advisor Kathy Folk said. “This is a different way of learning.”

The students flew through a spontaneous problem-solving exercise at the event held at UC Davis and impressed the judges with their ingeniously designed solution of how to get a hard-boiled egg through an obstacle course.

They used pantyhose, tires, motorized cars, a bicycle chain, soda cans and even a cardboard sea serpent to get their eggs to safety. They had been working on the obstacle course since October.

In the national competition, students will have to put their eggs to the same test--but this time around, the eggs will be raw.

“The physics in that is all different,” Folk said, explaining that the trajectories and timing of the drops, pulls and turns on the course will have to be tweaked to accommodate uncooked eggs.

Team members are Greg Folk, Daniel Lepore, Ryan Jusko, Eileen So, Christina Catania, Doug Coon and Courtney Poole.

KUDOS

Top Tapper: Jeffery Williams is busy drumming his fingers and tapping his feet for what could be THE night of his young career.

The 17-year-old senior from Palmdale’s Highland High School will take the stage Monday night at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion for the 12th annual Spotlight Awards competition, sponsored by the Performing Arts Center of Los Angeles County.

Twelve high school-age finalists will perform in the categories of ballet, jazz/modern dance, classical voice, nonclassical voice, classical instrumental and jazz instrumental music. Winners receive cash awards.

The program has launched the careers of many young artists who now perform professionally.

Jeffery is the first tap dancer to be chosen as a finalist in the history of the awards program. If his classmates are an indicator, Williams should knock the judges out. His peers recently voted him “most likely to succeed.”

The Spotlight Awards was launched in 1988 to recognize and offer scholarships to young people in Southern California who are pursuing careers in the arts.

This year, more than 800 high school students competed. There are separate contests for visual arts and photography.

Chambers Award: Carolina Prado of San Fernando High School is one of five Southern California high school students chosen to receive the Stan Chambers Journalism award.

For her essay on the topic “What Matters Most,” the 17-year-old Pacoima resident wrote about her jailed brother and how he has supported her throughout her life.

“It’s for him that I give 110% in my academic classes,” she wrote. “He gave me encouragement to reach for the stars.”

Prado will receive $1,000 and a chance to work in the KTLA newsroom. KTLA journalists read hundreds of essays for originality, creativity and writing skills. Stan Chambers is a longtime Los Angeles journalist who has worked at KTLA since 1947.

Capitol Art: Eleventh-grader June Bhongian and 10th-grader Lindsey Gary from Notre Dame High School in Sherman Oaks, and 12th-grader Raquel Trinidad from Grover Cleveland High School in Reseda have won an art competition sponsored by the San Fernando Valley High School Fine Arts Festival and Assemblyman Bob Hertzberg (D-Sherman Oaks).

The students will fly to Sacramento in June to see their artwork exhibited in the state Capitol. Their work was selected by a panel of art teachers, Assembly staff members and students from Hertzberg’s high school advisory commission, which provides student feedback to the lawmaker.

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