Suppers, play performances
to raise funds for Destination Imagination trip
By Scott Mitchell Johnson
Staff Writer
PRESQUE ISLE — Earlier this month, both Presque Isle Middle School Destination Imagination teams won second place in their division for the state earning them the right to attend the Destination Imagination Global Finals in Knoxville, Tenn. May 25-28.
With that, however, comes a huge challenge; raising $19,000 in the next few weeks in order to attend the global celebration.
Contributed photo
MEMBERS of the Presque Isle Middle School Destination Imagination (blue team), which is busy raising funds to attend the Destination Imagination Global Finals next month in Knoxville, Tenn. are, from left, front row: Jonathyn Elliott and Michaela Dubé. Middle row: Alana Luong, Abby Clark, Angela Hallowell, Grace Player and Austin Albert. Back: coach Valerie Black.
To help raise money for the trip, the DI teams are sponsoring two spaghetti suppers this week that will be followed by performances of the middle school play, “School For Nerds.”
“It’s been a fun, tough, exciting and rewarding time for these students as they worked their way through several levels of competition in order to win a shot at the biggest challenge of them all — Destination Imagination’s Global Finals,” said coaches June Bagley and Valerie Black in a solicitation letter. “At Global Finals, 14,000 participants from the U.S. and more than 30 countries will showcase their creative solutions to the Destination Imagination Challenges.
“The Presque Isle Middle School Destination Imagination teams will compete against students from across the United States and more than 10 countries and provinces, such as teams from Korea, Istanbul, China, Mexico and Guatemala,” the coaches said.
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SCHOOL FOR NERDS — Presque Isle Middle School will present “School For Nerds” by R. Eugene Jackson tonight, Wednesday, April 13 and Thursday, April 14 at 6:30 p.m. in the auditorium. A spaghetti supper will precede the play. Admission to the supper is $5 per person, while there is no cost to attend the play. Donations, however, will be accepted. Rehearsing a scene from the play are, from left: Cole Staples, Miranda Flannery, Isaac Michaud and Emily Sjoberg. Proceeds will benefit the Destination Imagination teams’ upcoming trip to Knoxville, Tenn.
Play director Leslee Mahon said student interest in the production was so high that they have two casts — white and blue — which represents the school’s colors. The first spaghetti supper will be held from 4:30-6:30 p.m. tonight, Wednesday, April 13 in the PIMS cafeteria. A performance by the white cast will immediately follow in the auditorium. A second supper will be held the same time Thursday, April 14 followed by the blue cast’s performance at 6:30 p.m. Admission to the spaghetti supper is $5 per person. Admission to the play is free; however, donations will be accepted.
According to Mahon, “School For Nerds” by R. Eugene Jackson, is set at Brawny Preparatory High School, home of the fighting Hippopotami and national winner of every sports award known to man. The school is about to be closed because it has failed to graduate a single student in its entire history.
Contributed photo
PRESQUE ISLE MIDDLE SCHOOL Destination Imagination (white team) members are, from left, bottom row: Jordi Legassie, Brynn Staples, Ben Nickerson, Miranda Jandreau and Mary Mitchell. Top row: Abram Dow, Emma Beaulieu and Michael Mahon. The team is coached by June Bagley. Both PIMS Destination Imagination teams recently won second place in their division for the state earning them the right to attend the Destination Imagination Global Finals in Knoxville, Tenn. May 25-28. They now must raise $19,000 in the next few weeks to attend the global celebration. To help raise money for the trip, the DI teams are sponsoring two spaghetti suppers this week that will be followed by performances of the middle school play, “School For Nerds.”
“So who rides to their academic rescue? Nerds, of course,” said Mahon. “In an attempt to chase them from the campus, the jocks glue the pages of their books closed, put a frog in their mashed potatoes at lunchtime, send the school mascot, Harry the Hippo, after them and hang Wilmer upside-down from the school flagpole. But after the Accreditation Committee condemns the school, the jocks and the nerds learn they must work together for their own welfare. So, the frustrated nerds teach academics to the uninterested jocks, while the frustrated jocks teach athletics to the uncoordinated nerds in a series of hilarious scenes. And who wins? They all do!
“We have two talented casts and crew performing this family-friendly, funny play. When the Destination Imagination teams won the chance to attend Globals in Knoxville, Tenn., MaryJo Badger and I thought it would be a wonderful chance to have a spaghetti supper previous to the productions to raise money for the teams,” she said. “The majority of the Destination Imagination team members are participating in the play, so it is a great opportunity to highlight their talent and raise money at the same time! We hope people attend these nights and support our talented youth.”
The white cast, which performs tonight at 6:30 p.m., is comprised of Austin Albert, Emma Beaulieu, Grace Braley, Jordan Buckley, Hilary Boucher, Maddie Caron, Abby Clark, Gabriella Donovan, Michaela Dubé, Angela Hallowell, Miranda Jandreau, Sean Keegan, Ryan Kelly, Gavin Kelley, Alana Luong, Michael Mahon, Mary Mitchell, Grace Player, Marielle Shaw, Brynn Staples, Aaron Swanson and Quinn Thibault.
The blue cast, performing Thursday at 6:30 p.m., includes Erin Ackerson, Malerie Buck, Frances Castro, Liam Daniels, Emma Everett, Miranda Flannery, John Freeman, Olivia Goulet, Rachel Hobbs, Emma Kinney, Shaye McHatten, Alexandra Michaud, Isaac Michaud, Kyle Nadeau, Abby Shaw, Marielle Shaw, Emily Sjoberg, Cole Staples, Alyssa Sweeney, Kayla Thibodeau, Brittany Warner and Stephanie Winslow.
Both casts’ crew includes Jessica Baldwin, Emily Buckley, Tabatha Gordon, Mandy Graham, Page Kidney, Megan McKnight, Vanessa Michaud and Rachel Patenaude. Also involved in the production are Noah Garrison (sound) and Mitchell Kelley and Noah Rossignol (lights). Leslee Mahon is the director and MaryJo Badger is the stage director.
As with the school play, the Destination Imagination teams are divided by school colors. Both at the regional competition, which was held March 19 at Eastern Maine Community College, and at the state competition, which was held April 2 at the University of Maine at Orono, each team participated in a different challenge.
The white team was given the challenge — Triple Take Road Show. Team members had to use three different storytelling methods to tell the same story to three team-chosen pretend audiences. They had to portray the travel methods used to move their traveling road show between different pretend audiences, and to integrate a team-created technical spectacle into one presentation to the imagined audience.
This challenge focused on playwriting, theatrical presentation, storytelling, storytelling relevance, special effects, innovation and design process, construction and teamwork.
The blue team was charged with the Mythology Mission where they had to create a five-minute improvisational skit about a mission involving a mythical creature. This had to have been done in a five-minute preparation time prior to their presentation at the tournament. Team members had to incorporate research about a culture from a country, three souvenirs randomly selected from the list of items, and combine them to create one master prop. They also had to incorporate an unexpected problem that was discovered on stage.
This task focused on research and understanding of cultures, mythology, improvisational acting, story development, theater arts and teamwork.
Both the blue and white teams placed second at the regional and state competitions.
Destination Imagination team members have already sponsored a dance and are also planning an Avon fundraiser, a bottle drive, food sale, a raffle and a cell phone-recycling project to raise money for next month’s trip.
