By Angel Perkins Correspondent
BOURBON — Triton’s seven D.I. or Destination ImagiNation teams have a destination of Greentown for the regional competition March 14. For those that aren’t familiar with what D.I. is all about, it’s a sort of sport for the mind.
The volunteer-driven, educational organization teaches critical and creative thinking skills and builds teamwork with more than 250,000 children and teens participating in all 50 states and more than 40 countries. With names like “Blue and Gold,” “Frankfurter and Fries,” “The Muffin Bums,” “Jet Cndy,” “See Back for Details,” “Flying People Eaters” and “Cosine=pi/tangent,” one can see that the students have a touch of creativity to begin with.

In Greenwood, at the local high school, Triton’s team’s will be accompanied by their team sponsors Lisa Eiser, Cathy Strycker and Jennifer Mosier. Anita Orcutt, Triton educator and one of the many D.I. judges  explained to the group of parents gathered at Triton Jr. Sr. High School Sunday afternoon what the teams will be doing. “There are  five challenges on three levels and an ‘Instant Challenge,’” she said. “Everything they need for their challenge has to fit in a two (foot), by two, by two box to take there.”
To give an example she asked some of the older students to select from pieces of paper, selecting three genre’s of entertainment (they got anime’, comedy and action) and they were instructed to integrate a superstition with it, this time the fear of black cats crossing one’s path. Those students were given 30 minutes to come up with a skit, incorporating all those specifics and only using odds and ends donated to them such as paper towel cores, hangers, bubble wrap, plastic containers, wood scraps, shower curtains, PVC piping, mop heads, markers, newspaper and other miscellaneous items.
    Members of two teams were put together to show an example of an “Instant Challenge” in which they had to include a number of variables. Adam Creighbuam, Nikki Snyder and Tom Eiser explained what they had put together, a skit that had faux, nature show, television professionals, animals and communication. “We’re judged by our creativity, the quality of the performance, the originality, the effort and the research that went into it,” said Tom Eiser. “’Side Trips’ are additional challenges.”
    The trio went on to say that they had researched the mating rituals of the Bower Bird that builds Bowers, or extravagant nests, incorporating blue items and attracts a mate by “rattling, trilling and hissing.” The students will act out the scene, remembering to include only noises and movements and allowing a computer program of a prerecorded commentary on the animal species—with background music—as the guide for the judges to follow.
    Another team challenge was directed to involve a two-part device, made only of balsa wood and glue, that would hold large amounts of weight. Ethan Yazel and his team pretended to be a subconscious mind and his weight-holding device was said to weigh only 18 grams itself but could hold 127.5 pounds before being crushed. The challenge also had to include two forms of artwork (they chose graffiti and “Beatnick” poetry) as well as had to follow a story-line.
The team sent off with 30 minutes to get together their challenge came through with moments to spare and also were told at the last minute to incorporate an invisible camera with Nancy Drew, the black cat, comedy, anime’ and action. They were given six minutes to perform and did so.
Ten students also showed off an imaginary, zoo, presidential debate and election process having only four minutes to prepare and three minutes to perform using all the problem solving and creativity they could muster.
    The youngest team, with members Brock Goley, Desirae Kemp, Shaniah Baker, Sara Stevens and Caitlyn Ihnen, had the challenge to portray a story from classic literature that included action, (flickering fire and an electric eel) and a special character. They thus performed a version of the “Three Little Pigs” using the “Big Bad Magic Shark” (for the character) and using props they had made beforehand to represent the houses made of straw, sticks and bricks.
To give those gathered in the Study Hall room a real taste of what D.I. challenges “feel” like, family members of Triton’s Destination ImagiNation team members were invited to take part in an Instant Challenge, “Making Connections” that the students had been faced with in the past. Their instructions were to connect plastic cups turned upside down, only using one piece of foil, one sheet of paper, 10 uncooked spaghetti noodles, two pieces of string, a coat hanger, four mailing labels, two pencils, a spoon, six yardsticks (that weren’t to be broken) and a styrofoam cup. They had four minutes to plan their strategy and had to connect them within three minutes.
They couldn’t step or reach within about a foot of the table the plastic cups they were to connect were on and to make the challenge even more difficult, the rules said they could only connect two cups and each cup was only to be connected to another, one time. They made a few connections but rather showed that a little ingenuity and teamwork can go a long way and is best proved when practiced.
If any of Triton’s teams win at Regionals they will go on to state and could potentially progress on to global finals.