Westchase Area Teens Win State Engineering
Competition
By Jolean McPherson
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Five Alonso High School students, including two West Park
Village teens, overcame many obstacles to win an opportunity to
compete in this year’s Destination ImagiNation Global Finals on
May 21-24 at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.
Destination ImagiNation (DI) is the largest celebration of
creativity, teamwork, and problem solving on the planet,
according to its Web site, www.idodi.org. More than 200,000
students in over 56 countries participate each year.
In the past, Florida has not been represented in the worldwide
competition, but five Westchase area teens are changing that. A
few months ago, Ben Khurgel of West Park Village decided to put
together a team. Marco Fisher, also of West Park Village, as
well as Kyle Christensen, Erin Mailliard and Michael Brandt,
decided to join Ben. All of them are aspiring engineers or
physicists. |
Alonso students Ben Khurgel, Erin Mailliard,
Kyle Christensen, Michael Brandt, and Marco Fisher, dressed in
their team’s disco-themed outfits, will head to Destination
ImagiNation’s Global Finals with your help. |
Most teams have months to prepare before competing, but Ben and his team
pulled their entry for the March 31 Florida-Georgia state competition
together in two weeks.
In DI, up to seven participants work as a team to create a unique
solution to a Team Challenge, which can have a focus that is theatrical,
structural, improvisational, scientific or technical. The program builds
skills in creative and critical thinking, teamwork, time management and
problem solving.
The Alonso High School teens picked an engineering-related Team
Challenge called “Obstacles, Of Course.” They were challenged to make a
fulcrum (a see-saw) that was three inches from the ground and an independent
vehicle that could overcome it.
Once they had their mission, the Alonso teens spent six hours a day
coming up with a creative solution. Their hard work paid off. The team,
who adopted a disco theme, won the state finals. If they can raise the
$6,000 needed to attend, they will go to the global competition in
Knoxviller this month.
“It means a lot to the team because we thought this would just be a
practice year, but we decided to go for it this year,” said Khurgel. “We
did what most teams do in six months in two weeks.”
“It was hectic,” said fellow team member Marco Fisher. “We
divisionalized the work so that we could get it done quicker. If we can
raise the money, I think we stand a good chance. Our design is pretty
good.”
If you’d like to support the team, contact Khurgel at (813) 380-1622.
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