By Peter Day
After months of preparation and hard work, four Lucerne Valley USD Destination Imagination teams impressed judges at the February 22nd regional competition to qualify for the state tournament on April 4th at the Riverside Convention Center.
Held at Arcadia High School, the LA-DI-Land Regional Destination Imagination Tournament served as a proving ground for the Lucerne Valley teams.
Leading the charge is the Middle School DI team (DIDAR)3 (Pronounced “Did R Cubed”), which took first place in the Technical Challenge and for the second time won the prestigious Renaissance Award. Managed by Victoria Kessler, many of the team members have competed in DI for year, one for seven years.
The team consists of four 8th-graders, Wyatt Perry, Kylee Lambert, Evan Herriman and Emilia Daniels. Kylee’s younger brother Evan, just a 5th-grader, rounds out the team.
“Kylee, Evan H, and Wyatt are part of the original (DIDAR) team that was started when they were in 3rd grade,” Ms. Kessler said. “Wyatt and Kylee competed in 2nd grade but were not on the same team together.”
(DIDAR) Stands for: Destination Imagination Dragon Adventurers (The R changes meaning every year to meet the theme of the challenge and/or ever-changing and improving team. This year R = Resume) The number was added later and changes just for fun and to keep the judges guessing. (DIDAR) has made it to the State level of competition every year they have competed, Ms. Kessler explained.
Lucerne Valley Elementary fielded four teams although one competes — and will continue onward — at the Middle School level, according to Marina Chicca-Wilding who oversees the school’s DI program.
“The Girls + That Thing” team, which is comprised exclusively of LVES 6th graders, took 2nd place in the Fine Arts Challenge — in the Middle School category. Managed by teacher Leah Paddack, the team, which consists of four girls and one boy, is made up of students Evelynn Stafford, Victoria Enright, Alecis Hale, Charlize Terletter, and Irvin Angeles.
The Elementary School teams “D.I. Prehistoric Explorers” and “Seriously We Need a Name” tied for 4th place and are all going to the state finals. The “D.I. Prehistoric Explorers” team is comprised of Christian Molano, Faith Hernandez, Samantha Whitehall, Jonathan Ceja Gonzales, Jonah Moreno and Alexia Kennedy. Manager for the D.I. Prehistoric Explorers is Larry Kennedy.
The seriously competitive team “Seriously We Need a Name?” is managed by Sarah Courtney. The team members are Nayely Alcazar, Jack West, Tatiana Fuller, Deyanira Perez, Leonardo Cortes and Colton Reichow.
The LVES team, Furious Wolves, competed admirably at regionals, placing in 6th place. The team members are Jovani Ceja Gonzales, Brian Hernandez, Kyleigh Rodrigues, Kaylie Roane, and Kinzie Rollins. The Furious Wolves are managed by Joei Miller.
Destination Imagination, which was founded in 1999, seeks to engage participating students in project-based challenges designed to develop creativity, critical thinking, communication and teamwork skills. DI encourages students to have fun exploring Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) concepts with hands-on, student-generated, problem-solving projects.
Last year, the two Lucerne Valley school campuses had three of its four DI teams go to state competition.
Peter Day is a social media advisor for the Lucerne Valley Unified School District.
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PHOTOS:
#1 The team (DIDAR)3 team consists of four 8th-graders, Wyatt Perry, Kylee Lambert, Evan Herriman and Emilia Daniels. Kylee’s younger brother Evan, just a 5th-grader, rounds out the team. The team is managed by Victoria Kessler.
#2 “The Girls + That Thing” team, which is comprised exclusively of LVES 6th graders, took 2nd place in the Fine Arts Challenge — in the Middle School category. Managed by teacher Leah Paddack, the team, which consists of four girls and one boy, is made up of students Evelynn Stafford, Victoria Enright, Alecis Hale, Charlize Terletter, and Irvin Angeles.
#3 The “D.I. Prehistoric Explorers” team is comprised of Christian Molano, Faith Hernandez, Samantha Whitehall, Jonathan Ceja Gonzales, Jonah Moreno and Alexia Kennedy. Manager for the D.I. Prehistoric Explorers is Larry Kennedy.
#4 “Seriously We Need a Name?” is managed by Sarah Courtney. The team members are Nayely Alcazar, Jack West, Tatiana Fuller, Deyanira Perez, Leonardo Cortes and Colton Reichow.
#5 The Furious Wolves team members are Jovani Ceja Gonzales, Brian Hernandez, Kyleigh Rodrigues, Kaylie Roane, and Kinzie Rollins. The Furious Wolves are managed by Joei Miller.