St. Joseph's 'Sister Confucius' Team Heads to Destination ImagiNation Global Finals

St. Joseph School's middle school Destination ImagiNation team recently captured first place at the state Destination ImagiNation competition and will be competing in the Global Finals at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville this Thursday and Friday.

This is the seventh year in a row the school – which is located in Lake Orion and draws its students primarily from Oakland Township, Lake Orion, Oxford and Clarkston – has sent a Destination ImagiNation team to the global finals.

"Destination ImagiNation has students work in teams to solve mind-bending challenges centered on creativity, problem solving, collaboration and thinking way, way outside the box," read a press release from the school.

"More than 100,000 students from schools in nearly 40 countries vie for the chance to make it to the Global Finals to complete against 16,000 students from around the world."

The team, named "Sister Confucius," includes Gretchen Altenberger, McKenna Carron, Molly Galvin, Lauren Miller, Rachel Warstler, Taylor Warstler and Lyndsey Welper and is managed by Jeri and Tom Altenberger. 

The team competed in the Triple Take Road Show fine arts category at the state competition, capturing first place for using "three different storytelling methods to tell the same story to three team-chosen pretend audiences" while meeting other criteria during the competition, read the press release.

Sister Confucius also won the rare Renaissance Award for its story centered on a Chinese fortune teller; the award "recognizes teams who demonstrate extraordinary amounts of effort, preparation and outstanding skill in engineering design and performance."

To donate to the Destination ImagiNation team, visit the St. Joseph School website.