Aqua Girls compete in Destination Imagination finals

The Aqua Girls – Ava Ransom, Olivia Reed, Caroline Fowles, Eliza Aleksandrovic, Grace Chilton, Audrey Ray and Patty Yuhas – after their Globals performance. Photo by Robin Chilton

My mom and I traveled 33 hours to join the Aqua Girls in Knoxville, Tenn., for the Global Finals of the Destination Imagination competition May 22-25. It was a long trip, but I had a blast with the Aqua Girls! After four months of FaceTiming on our computers, it was a dream come true for me to be able to revisit the University of Tennessee, experience Global Finals, and compete with my team. (Thank you, Mom and Dad!)

It was amazing to see all the teams from 42 states and 14 countries under the bright lights at the Opening Ceremony in UT's basketball arena. There were nearly 1,300 teams! 

We spent some time rehearsing our show because I was added to the show. I was nervous about fitting into it. Thanks to my teammates, I had no problem.

The day we competed we spent time in the dorm playing DI games and visualizing our show. We were relaxed, focused and ready. We wanted to win!

Our show couldn’t have gone better! It felt amazing! Our moms must have been proud because they spent the afternoon wearing our masks around campus!

On Saturday, May 25, we competed in the instant challenge. An instant challenge is done in front of four judges and no audience. We had six minutes to complete a task we were given on the spot. It was a tough building task, but we liked our solution. It’s strange, but the judges don’t give feedback. They tell us when time is up and escort us out.

At the Closing Ceremony, our goal was to be in the top 10. Our team leaders reminded us that we were competing against 77 other teams in the most competitive challenge. I think they did that because they didn’t want us to be disappointed. We waited forever then finally they began to reveal the teams that placed 4th-10th in our challenge on the arena’s big screen. When we saw eighth-place Bay Village Middle School, we screamed our heads off!

The Aqua Girls want to thank Superintendent Clint Keener, the Bay Village School Board and BMS Principal Sean McAndrews for supporting us and helping us finance our trip. We want to thank all of our teachers for understanding the importance of Destination Imagination. We want to thank Mr. Thomas Schemrich for his help on our masks and Mrs. Marian Harmount for running Bay’s DI program and always being there for us. 

We want to thank Mrs. Kim Ray, Mrs. Heather Ransom and Mrs. Amy Reed for being our team managers. We want to thank Mrs. Robin Chilton for the flying turtles that we will never forget, and Mrs. Mary Kay Aleksandrovic, Mrs. Amy Fowles and Dr. Michele Moore for all their help too. It was a real team effort!

Personally, I want to thank Eliza, Grace, Caroline, Ava, Olivia and Patty for not forgetting me! I looked forward to your call every Friday night! You are the best teammates, and I can’t wait for the next DI season!