Sea Monkeys Snatch Problem-Solving Prize

A team of elementary school students from two Laguna Niguel schools have won first place in an international competition in creative problem-solving in Knoxville, Tenn.

The team, the Gallant Sea Monkeys, made up of students Hannah Gray, 11; Erin Haug, 10; Sarah Leech, 11; Maddie Smith, 11; and Sam Thorpe, 11, took top scores over 50 teams from the United States and eight other countries. They won in the elementary level of the dynamic improv competition. Sam Thorpe attends Moulton Elementary School and the others attend George L. White Elementary School.

They were coached by Helen Smith and Edie Leech, substitute teachers in the Capistrano Unified School District and parents of two team members.

The annual contest is sponsored by Destination ImagiNation, a nonprofit organization for students in kindergarten through college that teaches life skills through team-based problem-solving. All the teams were given a broom, an embroidery hoop, a piece of rope, two pie tins, two yards of fabric, a pair of socks, a cardboard box, a piece of poster board, duct tape and scissors to make props and costumes to act out various categories.