Elmhurst Students Earn High Marks for Building Hovercraft in Global Competition

Creativity was the name of the game for a group of local seventh-grade students who recently scored high marks in a fierce competition that included teams from around the world.

Students from Elmhurt's Immaculate Conception Grade School joined forces this past weekend to compete in the creative problem-solving challenge, Destination Imagination. They earned a fifth-place title out of about 80 teams in their middle-tier age bracket. Each year, the seven-member group, "The Color of Boom," has advanced beyond the regional tournament to the state competition, where they have claimed a spot at the Global Finals in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Held from May 24 to 28, this year's competition included teams from throughout the United States as well as those from Singapore, China, Guatemala, Poland, Mexico, Canada, Brazil and more.

The Color of Boom participated in the tournament's Technical Challenge. Students were tasked with building a vehicle that was: Capable of carrying at least one team member; fit to travel a distance of 14 feet at least 40 times during an 8-minute span; and able to change its movement and propulsion for each trip. Participants were also charged with telling a story that met several criteria, including incorporating the vehicle's trips into the context.

The Color of Boom rose to the occasion by designing and building a hovercraft that converted into a mechanically wheeled vehicle, according to a community bulletin. As for the parts and materials used to meet the challenge? The team hauls them to the competition each year via moving truck.

"It's not like anything we do in school, and I really like to build stuff," said student Aidan Janc, according to a news release.

Destination Imagination represents a hands-on learning method aimed at fostering students' creativity, courage and curiosity through open-ended academic challenges in fields including STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics), fine arts and service learning. For more information on the program, visit www.destinationimagination.org.

Provided photo: Pictured are the following members of the ICGS Destination Imagination team, "The Color of Boom (from left to right):" Aidan Janc, Ryan Veach, Carl Knable, Josh Schierl, Anna Dray, and Therese Giannini.