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PLYMOUTH - With success comes high expectations to continue to succeed.
Seven area students are facing those expectations as they head to Global Destination Imagination competition for the second year in a row. Last year, the team won at world when they were a team affiliated with Triton Jr./Sr. High School. This year looks to be just as promising even with the team becoming independent.
Members of the team include Sarah Benczik, Trinity School at Greenlawn in South Bend senior; Todd Bolt, Warsaw Community High School junior; Kylie Edmonds, Triton High School senior; David Gabhart, THS sophomore; Ben Speicher, THS sophomore; Andrea Zentz, THS senior; and Tim Speicher, THS senior.
The team, calling themselves M.Seven, competed at Noblesville High School April 5 to win champion trophies in Theater Smarts and in ConnecDid.
Theater Smarts is a theatrically based problem in which the team portrayed man's inner intellectual journey. Bolt said the main idea behind Theater Smarts is to "perform a performance" with a troupe of entertainers. There is an interruption during the performance and that has to be overcome.
"This year we chose to think outside of the box," Bolt said. All the characters in the performance were inside a guy's head. A character, "Revelation," interrupts the entertainment for the guy and tells the other characters they are not benefitting the guy. But the other characters tell Revelation they are not trying to overpower one another but educate the man as a whole.
ConnecDid is a technical problem scoring structure efficiency and a storyline about connections.
Benczik said ConnecDid is a skit with a structure that needs to be crushed. Efficiency is part of the score and the theme is connections. She said they used very large props. Bolt said the main connection they used in the challenge is that man is connected to his self through his whole experiences.
Along with winning both competitions at the state level this year, they also won several other awards along the way - the Renaissance for outstanding performance, the DaVinci for mastering the artistic use of props and characterization and the Spirit of DI for dynamics in teamwork.
M.Seven's score at state for Theater Smarts was a perfect score - never seen before in Indiana scoring.
Destination Imagination teaches creative problem solving to students in grades kindergarten through college. Based in the idea there are multiple solutions to the same problem, DI presents teams with five challenges each season. Teams of up to seven members use their skills to compete without adult assistance. A portion of the competition also includes the teams taking on instant challenges which have to be solved quickly and on the spot.
Normally, a team will take on only one challenge each year, but M.Seven has taken on two challenges, excelling at both.
The biggest pressure, Edmonds said, is "you're a lot more pressed for time." There is less down time for the team, which put in more than 200 hours over the past year not counting state competition, but that can be both a good and bad thing, she said.
Also, Edmonds said since the team won global competition last year - a first for any Indiana team - and are doing so well this year, there is that pressure to do just as well or better at global competition.
"There's lots of pressure to go down there and do our best," said Bolt.
Edmonds said winning global last year was a surprise but this year there are high expectations for the team.
"Our props are so elaborate this year," said Benczik.
Global competition will be at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tenn., with opening ceremonies May 21.
The team does need community support as they need to raise $5,000 by May 15 to cover competition costs and travel expenses. All local sponsors will be recognized at a community-wide DI showcase night held at Lincoln Junior High School set tentatively for May 9. The show will feature M-7 and both of the Plymouth Schools DI teams.
Checks need to be written to Marshall County Community Foundation with "M.Seven Global Fund" in the memo line and sent to MCCF 2701 N. Michigan St., Plymouth, IN 46563. Donations are tax deductible.
"World finals is going to be the best this year," said Benczik.
