Destination Imagination teams place at world level

The two Carson City Destination ImagiNation teams that competed in the world competition did not come back empty handed.

"We've been waiting to get the hardware since the first year we went," said coach Lexine Thompson. "To get a place was just unbelievable."

The middle school team took third place out of 42 teams and the elementary school team took fifth.

"It's very difficult to place at world," Thompson said. "It's a very big accomplishment for them."

Destination ImagiNation, formerly known as Odyssey of the Mind, is a competition that promotes critical thinking and problem solving.

As part of the competition, students had to build a structure out of pasta. The object is to build the lightest structure that will hold the most weight.

The middle school team built a structure that weighed 70.5 grams and withstood 510 pounds. The elementary school's construction weighed 73 grams and held 360 pounds.

The Carson City teams, one from Eagle Valley Middle School and the other from Seeliger Elementary, competed in the global finals at Iowa State University May 24-27. They competed with teams from 39 other states and different countries.

Participating students from the elementary level were: Brad Blankenship, Chelsey Farnworth, Stephen Gall, Caleb Gradert, Matthew Grunert and Katie Peters.

Participants from the middle school were: Jeremy Grunert, Rachel Kuhn, Peter Lassaline, Madison Piazza, Abbie Shulz and Jenae Wilkins.

Other coaches were Terry Farnworth and Susan Grunert.