ALBERT Einstein famously said, "Logic will get you from A to Z; imagination will get you everywhere."
For a group of Grade 5 students at Kenneth Gordon Maplewood School, imagination is taking them all the way to Tennessee.
After winning honours for creativity, teamwork and problem solving in regional and provincial tournaments, the Mutant Gummy Bears - comprised of seven KGMS students - have earned a berth in the Destination Imagination Global Finals to be held May 22-26 in Knoxville, TN.
Destination Imagination is an educational program where student teams are tasked with thinking outside the box to solve open-ended challenges. Securing a spot in the finals has special meaning for the students at KGMS, an independent school for children with learning disabilities.
"Their self-esteem can be quite beat down because maybe they've been told 'You're not that smart' or 'Why can't you figure this out?'" explains team manager Trish Summers. "I think this kind of challenge really validates for them that they are smart and they can do things."
This is the first year the school has entered a team in the Destination Imagination competition. The Mutant Gummy Bears are competing in a technical challenge called In the Zone. Their presentation includes a skit based on the dangers posed by cars.
"They also had to build their own 10 cars that had to run on different power sources to get into a certain zone, almost like a bull's eye on the gym floor," Summers explains.
In addition to their presentation, they will face an Instant Challenge in which they will be given just a few minutes to prepare and present a solution to a mystery problem. Summers said her team excelled in this portion of the competition at the provincial tournament, scoring 98.5 out of 100.
"The kids are just so good at that and so I think that helps them know that they can succeed and that they have what it takes to make it and get through school," she says.
The KGMS team is among more than 8,000 students representing more than 1,250 teams from around the world that will advance to the final round. Currently, they are refining their presentation and raising money through bake sales and a "guess the number of gummy bears in the jar" contest.
"It's quite an expensive trip," Summers says, estimating flights, housing and food will add up to about $1,600 per student, "but we've heard all amazing things about it from teams that have gone in the past so we're just hoping it's an amazing experience."
