Middle schoolers set course for Destination Imagination
Some middle schoolers' imagination and improvisation skills will be put to the test March 12.
Two groups of students from Wareham Middle School will compete in the Destination Imagination regional competition that will take place at the Dennis-Yarmouth Regional School on March 12. The competition focuses on group performances showing the students overcoming challenges in a creative way.
The groups, who had a dress rehearsal in front of their classmates on Thursday afternoon, have been practicing for several months.
Each team was given a specific challenge to overcome. The first group of students, four eighth graders, had to solve a problem of realtor fraud. Kara Young played detective Jessica Jones and had to find out who forged a certificate of sale of an estate. It was either Ronald Trump, played by Joseph Ferro; Jonathan Miller Jusman, played by Jarrett Fernandes; or Vladimir Trotsky Stalin, played by Niccolo Lembo-Volpe.
The twist? Not one of the students knows the ending.
The students had to prepare three different endings for the challenge. The names of the three suspects were written on pieces of paper, put in a cup, and chosen by audience members. The paper with the name could only be picked up by the actors and actresses halfway through the performance.
Detective Jones didn't find out who committed the crime until after her interrogation and after she ran some tests in the forensic lab.
Six fifth graders solved an equally challenging mystery, set before the 1990s. They chose the year 1967, and played out a kidnapping. The victim was Sean, played by Gabriel Silva. The suspects could have been Mirian Karam, who played Beth; Hannah Grasso, who played Christie; or Salim Karam, playing a mime. Detective Deborah Holmes, played by Lydia Norcross, and detective Matthew Johnson, played by Indiana Troupe, ended up finding Sean at the dumpster with his kidnapper.
Though all the fifth graders were new to Destination Imagination and didn't have previous acting experience, they all said they enjoyed the experience and that they would continue with it.