Press Release: 04-18-2012

Waukegan Community Unit School District # 60 will be represented by three student teams at the 2012 Destination ImagiNation (DI) Global Finals in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Student teams from Jefferson Middle School and Waukegan High School will join more than 20,000 competitors from across world during the prestigious Global Finals from May 23 to 26 at the University of Tennessee.

The teams advanced to the Global Finals following stellar performances last weekend at the Destination ImagiNation State Finals at Northern Illinois University. At the DeKalb competition, Challenge Accepted, a team student team representing Waukegan High School took first place in “Coming Attractions” category. The team was also awarded the competition’s “Renaissance Award” for their use of special effects. Team members include: Gerardo Gordillo, Justin Farias, Evan Lyons, Chelsy Moreno, Theresa Edwards, and McKenna Lyons.

Also winning their respective category were James and the JuJu Bees, an eighth grade team from Thomas Jefferson Middle School. James and the JuJu Bees defeated all other middle school teams in the News to Me category. Teams members include: Diana Dick, Brett Eikenberry, Matthew Fallon, Jessica Farias, Angelina Jose, James Lopez and Frankie Parades.

The final Waukegan team to qualify was Awkward Silence, a Jefferson team made up of sixth and seventh graders, who took third place in the Assembly Required category. Team members Include: Bronte Beaudoin, Jackie Carlson, Abigail Crombie, Nestor Padilla, Michael Rodriguez, Ella Spencer and B.J. Zamble.

Destination ImagiNation is a creative team competition that encourages students to use critical thinking and teamwork to solve complex problems and challenges in science, fine arts, and technical categories. Teams compete in one of six categories: Assembly Required, The Solar Stage, Coming Attractions, New to Me, Hold It!, Built to Last and The World Canvas.

Email Contact: nalajakis@wps60.org

Members of Awkward Silence at a recent competition.