Months of teamwork and creative brainpower brought success to five students from Calhan Elementary School when their team, The Travelers, earned a spot in the Destination ImagiNation Global Finals in Knoxville, Tenn.”It’s been a fun, tough, exciting and rewarding time for these kids, as they worked their way through several levels of competition to earn a spot for the Global competition,” said Debbie Pieper, team manager of The Travelers. “They are proud of their accomplishments and they should be, because the competition leading to Globals is fierce.”The team won the regional competition in March, competing against teams from Academy District 20, Lewis Palmer and several other school districts in the Pikes Peak Region. The team then competed against top teams from around the state, including Boulder, Cherry Creek and Jefferson County school districts. “Our small town kids not only held their own against the gifted and talented students from the big schools but they shined and earned the top honors,” Pieper said.The team consists of three fifth grade and two fourth grade Calhan students who have been working on their solution since September. The students have participated in the Destination ImagiNation program for varying amounts of time: Zayna Pieper has been with the team for five years; Baylee Parks and Emilly McCaleb for four years; Zach McCrary for two years; and Emily Gallegos joined the team this year. Pieper and her husband Randy coach the team.Pieper said the team will compete with 20,000 other young people from all 50 states and 40 countries in the Global Finals, held at the University of Tennessee in May.Destination ImagiNation’s creative problem solving challenges comply with national education standards. Each of the challenges offers a different focus, such as mathematics, technical design and construction, experimentation, theater arts, social studies, research, story development, architecture, geography, structural engineering and other disciplines requiring critical thinking skills necessary to be successful in tomorrow’s world.The team and their parents need to raise about $11,000 to send the students, coaches and chaperones to the tournament. “We are currently working on a multitude of fundraisers and would gladly accept any donations,” Pieper said. All donations are tax deductible. For more information, contact Pieper at dpieper@falconbroadband.net or 719-347-0384.
