There's more than one use for fishing line There's more than one use for fishing line (May 06, 2005)

PMS and Hearst students win big at creativity competition

Students from Pleasanton Middle School and Hearst Elementary School each won three awards at the Destination ImagiNation State Finals April 14 in Clovis earning them a place at the Global Finals of Destination ImagiNation in Tennessee May 23.

Sargun Dhillon, James Hedrick, Haley Laine, Diane Rodriguez and Adam Siegel represented Pleasanton Middle School with the help of fifth-grade student Preston Hedrick and third-grade student Jared Siegel. Their team, named Carpe Diem Back in Black, took home first place in the Dizzy Derby competition, second place in Sudden Serendipity, and won a Renaissance Award for outstanding engineering and design.

In the Dizzy Derby challenge, the students modified a treadmill motor to move a 14-foot PVC boom around a triangular track. Their contraption completed 98 laps in six minutes and beat out 15 other teams.

In the Sudden Serendipity competition, students created and acted out the story of an invention and a chance event that lead to another invention.

Sachin Dhar, Preston Hedrick, Hunter Laine, Patricia Walchessen and Kelly Villanueva represented Hearst with their team, Carpe Chocolatum. They took home first place in the Designing Bridges competition, second place in the elementary division of Sudden Serendipity, and won a Spirit of Destination ImagiNation award for extraordinary teamwork and spirit.

For the Designing Bridges competition, the students built a bridge out of wood, glue and fishing line that held 100 pounds before breaking. The students added a dash of color to their bridge by making it out of paint color samples.

Destination ImagiNation is a program that encourages students to develop creativity and problem-solving skills. Students from 47 states and 15 countries participate in the program. Destination ImagiNation is affiliated with Destination ImagiNation Inc., a non-profit located in Glassboro, N.J.

To raise money for the global competition, the two teams are holding a family movie night Friday, May 6 in the Hearst Elementary multi-purpose room. The event will include dinner at 6 p.m. followed by a showing of "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" at 7 p.m. Cost is $2 per person and tickets can be reserved by contacting Liz Flores at lizyflores@comcast.net or contacting the Hearst office.-Rebecca Guyon

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