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WARREN -- Using teamwork and creativity while often working under pressure, second- to eighth-graders at Willard PK-8 School will be heading to Destination Imagination regional competitions this winter.
Fifth-grade teachers Cara Meadows and Nina Vaughn, advisers to the DI teams, said there teams will compete with two in the community service category and two in the improv category.
The regional competition is set for March 9 in Barberton.
Meadows has one team of second- to fourth-grade students and another of fifth-graders, and Vaughn has a third-grade team as well as another with students from seventh and eighth grades.
"This is the third year Willard School has had teams competing. We started up again after COVID and have small groups on the teams.
If successful at regional, teams advance to state in Cincinnati in April and then to global finals in Missouri in May," Meadows said.
From October to early March, the teams work together at school for an hour once per week. In the fall, they choose the categories they'll work on during the meetings.
For the community service category, Meadows said teams must do research, create a project and utilize their research to create a fantasy skit.
They show judges what they did, how they did it and why they did it.
The fifth-grade team, called "Starzs," is helping Someplace Safe with donations of food and gently used clothes. The second- to fourth-grade team, called "Animal Protecting Service," is collecting items for the Animal Welfare League.
"Both teams are in the community service category so the teams will be competing against each other in the same division," Meadows said, noting the teams are in the second- to fifth-grade category.
"The kids have to decide everything themselves. There is a lot of problem solving, creative thinking and teamwork involved. I watch as they think outside the box to solve problems and challenges they encounter," Meadows said.
Vaughn said DI was canceled in 2020 because of the pandemic and then returned slowly.
Her team of third-graders is called "The Three Amigas" and the seventh- and eighth-graders "The Cyanites."
Vaughn said for the Improv category the team is given a topic or challenge a few minutes before judging that they have to act out.
"The third-graders are completely fearless. They don't get stage fright. They go out there in front of the judges and act their little hearts out. The older students are more self-conscious. The older ones are more concerned about being judged," Vaughn said.
She said she sees growth for those students who return each year.
Kaylee Sotak, 12, a seventh-grader, has been competing since fourth grade and likes the improv category.
"I like going to the competition and getting to be creative with the topics they give us. You never know what the topic will be. I tell myself to do my best and not be afraid," Sotak said.
Vaughn said Sotak had been taking part longer than most of the other students.
Da'Sha Martin, 10, fifth grade, said this is her first year competing in DI.
"I wanted to try something new. My team is in the community service category collecting items for Someplace Safe for people who do not have what they need," Martin said.
She said the presentation of what the team did in front of the judges is the hardest part.
Because she is a cheerleader, she is used to being in front of people.
DI's main goal is to prepare students for the future. In DI, students work together in teams to solve open-ended STEAM challenges designed to teach the creative process.
DI officials indicate the creative process is a step-by-step approach that helps students understand problems and ask better questions, come up with solutions, learn from failure and celebrate their achievements.