By Jennifer Cunningham
It was a beautiful day at WPI last Saturday, March 30. The first day of real spring sunshine, with jackets finally shed and short sleeves abundant. Activities were not atypical for a college campus – games of soccer on the quad, some outdoor snacking, lounging in hammocks, music drifting over the scene from some unknown source. But it wasn’t only the undergraduates enjoying this glorious day. Approximately 90 groups of young artists, scientists, engineers, and problem solvers, three Bedford teams among them, had descended upon Worcester for the Destination Imagination State Tournament. In between bouts of enjoying the weather, they were busy testing their drones, adjusting their pneumatics, building their sets, and steadying their nerves for a day of competition against Massachusetts’ best.
The Cotton Candy Squad (5th graders) competed in the Engineering Challenge, Monster Effects, in which they needed to design a lightweight structure that could support much heavier weights being added and removed and also trigger a special effect. Another 5th-grade team, TEJKMO (for Tyler, Eliza, Jacob, Kevin, Mina, and Owen), performed in the technical category, On Target, in which they needed to maneuver a team-designed aircraft to make payload drops in precise locations. And the 7th grade Skittleworms presented their Medical Mystery, which involved team research into a rare neurological condition and a team-designed representation of the sensory neurons in the brain. In addition to performing their prepared presentations for their Central Challenge, each team also had their communication, teamwork, and creativity tested with an “Instant Challenge” a problem that they had never encountered before that they solved on the spot in the course of 5-8 minutes.
In a thrilling conclusion to the day, at the evening award ceremony, Bedford had two teams walk away with trophies and the chance to represent Massachusetts at the international level of competition, DI Global Finals, to be held in late May in Kansas City, Missouri.
TEJKMO and the Skittleworms will again be showcasing their ingenuity and dedication around town this month as they work hard to offset the significant costs of attending the national competition. You can support both teams by dining at Ginger Japanese Restaurant on Tuesday, April 23 or by making a direct contribution via this joint fundraising site: https://www.gofundme.com/bedford-destination-imagination-global-finals
For the Cotton Candy Squad as well as the nine other Bedford teams that wowed us at the regional tournament a few weeks ago, thoughts may have already turned to next year!
If your family would like information on how to join in the creative adventure next year, please fill out this (nonbinding) interest form here to be notified when we form new teams for the fall: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1sKjz3-p9gQkNJV8gYnbi7rsZRQsVw6Mf96zvhusQvUk/edit
Bedford DI is so pleased with our entire community of young creative minds!
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