Destination Imagination

By Tessa Barcelo

About

Destination Imagination (more commonly known as DI) has caused a lot of excitement at Wood Hill. Last year, the team MEGA V (now MEGA TV) went to Globals with their awesome skit about an octopus. This year, all three of Wood Hill’s teams went to States and the Kabba Blimey Manatees have made it to Globals. But what is DI?

DI is comprised of two parts- the Central Challenge and the Instant Challenge. In the Instant Challenge, a team is given a task and they have a limited amount of time and materials to complete it. They are then scored on different elements of it. The Central Challenge has many different categories. This year, Wood Hill competed in the Fine Arts, Scientific and Improv challenges. Each challenge has a problem or a scene that the team must make a skit about. There are a few requirements for each one.

Wood Hill’s teams are MEGA TV, Defying Gravity, and the Kabba Blimey Manatees. This year, MEGA TV competed in the Fine Arts challenge, Vanished, Defying Gravity competed in the Scientific, Top Secret, and the Kabba Blimey Manatees competed in the Improv challenge, 3-Peat.

This Year

On March 18, the first competition was held. This was Regionals, at Greater Lawrence Technical School. The Kabba Blimey Manatees and MEGA TV each got first place in their categories and Defying Gravity got second. All of the teams made it to States.

The next competition, States, was held at Worcester Polytechnic Institute on April 2. The competition was fierce, and only one of our teams made it to Globals, the Kabba Blimey Manatees. When asked about their experience with DI, the team in question exploded into rants about things that must have been inside jokes, including “FASHION, FASHION, FASHION”, “water damage”, and “it’s also a cult”.

Team Talk


We talked to members from the teams about DI in general and their experiences with it. “This was my first year and I loved it. I’m definitely doing it again next year,” says Tessa Barcelo, 7th grade, MEGA TV. Maddy Zugel, also a member of MEGA TV in 7th grade, said, “DI, or Destination Imagination, is where we can let our thoughts out in the open. Even if the thoughts are crazy, the thoughts will not be rejected right away. Every crazy idea in your mind you can let out, and those thoughts will be added by other ideas to create something amazing. DI doesn’t really run on too many rules, it runs on your imagination. Your imagination is everything in DI.” Emme Pitts, 8th grade, Kabba Blimey Manatees, said, “What are your food options? I’m on a diet of strictly air.”

Hopefully you know a little more about DI now!

Here Comes Kieve!

By: Nadia Shah

Who’s ready for Kieve? In a few weeks, 7th graders are going on a 5-day trip to camp Kieve, located in Nobleboro, Maine. It takes about three hours to get there, and three hours to come back. Are you ready to review the trip?

The first thing you should be looking at is your packing list. You are going to need many things, so be sure to read the packing list (included right below):

Personal items: toothpaste, toothbrush, soap, shampoo, towel, etc.


Sleeping bag and pillow ( or sheets and blankets). Bring in a plastic bag to keep them clean and dry.


Rain gear: unless there is thunder and lightening, we DO go outside.


Cold weather gear: Gloves, hats, scarves, winter boots, etc


Socks, socks, socks: It sounds silly, but if you get wet or cold, you are going to want warm feet.


Clothing that can be layered. Sweatshirts, long sleeve shirts. It is easier to take off extra layers than to wish you had brought more!


Closed toed shoes: This is a requirement to climb on our Ropes Course.


Miscellaneous Gear: Sunscreen, chapstick, water bottle, bug spray, cameras are allowed but not in the classroom, flashlight.


You can leave your school books, pencils and rulers behind. But, you may want to bring reading material for at night.


Medications must be in the original bottle, with the label indicating name and dose. All medications will go to the infirmary upon arrival and be divided into cabins for your cabin staff to distribute accordingly. Our Health Care Manager will be checking all medications and dosage instructions when you arrive. Also, she will be on duty to help out during the week.


We encourage you not to bring electronics, they may get lost. If you need music to fall asleep you may bring an ipod or portable cd player with headphones, but they must be kept in the cabin.

Next, you are going to want to look into where exactly you will be staying. At Kieve, you stay in cabins. Each cabin has their own character. They will keep you warm and dry (don’t worry!). All the cabins have two toilets, two sinks, and two showers, electrical outlets, heat, and up to 16 bunk beds. Some have a lakefront view! Kieve asks that you do not ruin the cabins, because they serve as homes to staff. Be sure to remember that Kieve is NOT a hotel!

Then, you should look at your schedule. You are going to want to know what you will be doing and when out will be doing it. A normal day is as follows:
7:30 - Wake Up


8:00 - Breakfast


9:00-Noon: Classes. Don’t worry, there's a snack in the middle of the morning!


12:00-12:30 - LUNCH


12:30-3:00 - Class


3:00 - Snack #2


3:20 - Choice time. (See below for sample choice time activities)


5:15 - DINNER


6:30 - Evening program


8:00 - Snack #3


9:00 - Lights out(6th graders) 9:15(7th graders) 9:30 (older students)


Finally, you are going to want to know what you are going to eat, since food is your first priority! Kieve has many choices of food, so you will be okay if you are picky! In the morning you will sit at a table with your cabin-mates and have a family style meal. Breakfast choices include cereal, fresh fruit, yogurt, milk, orange juice and a hot entrée like waffles or eggs and bacon. Lunches are served buffet style. You will line up and make selections from the lunch line where you will find a variety of hot foods (turkey with stuffing, chicken fajitas, hot dogs, etc). There is also a sandwich bar where you can make your own sandwich, as well as a salad bar. You can have as many helpings as you want. We just ask that you try to eat what you take. At lunchtime you can sit wherever you please -- catching up with old friends or getting to know new friends and TLS Educators better and catch up from the morning. Like breakfast, dinner is served family style and you will sit with your TLS Cabin Educator and cabin mates. For dinner you can expect things like burgers, spaghetti, stew. There is always a vegetarian choice.

Kieve is an amazing experience (from what I have heard), and I can’t wait to take part in it (and I think you should too)!

Source: Kieve

Professor Fix It:In The Sky

Dear Professor Fix-It,

Why do we see the color blue, whenever we look in the sky? Aso, why do we see clouds?

Please help,

In the Sky

Dear In the Sky,

“Blue light is scattered in all directions by the tiny molecules of air in Earth's atmosphere. Blue is scattered more than other colors because it travels as shorter, smaller waves. This is why we see a blue sky most of the time.” This is a quote from NASA Space Place. It is great to be curious so I am going to let you look up why we see clouds. If you don't like the answer the web gives you ask your science teacher, teachers love kids who are curious.

Hope that Helps,

Professor Fix It

Diversity Night to be held May 4

By Iliana Brouillette

The word diversity describes Wood Hill's community perfectly. But rarely do we ever stop and celebrate our differences that make us all so unique. There are so many different cultures that a few teachers decided to create a night just for showing and celebrating diversity. Diversity Night will be a showcase of clothes, languages, dances, music, and foods from all around the world. Students from all grades have volunteered to help out with it. The festivities start at 6 o'clock on Thursday, May 4.