Wed, Dec 03 2008
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Published May 07, 2008 07:22 pm - I like hanging around smart kids because they tend to remind me that I’m a moron. I don’t mean they come right out and call me a moron — that would be rude. Mike Pound: Students share spotlight with their teacher By Mike Pound
Globe columnist mpound@joplinglobe.com I like hanging around smart kids because they tend to remind me that I’m a moron. I don’t mean they come right out and call me a moron — that would be rude. I mean they remind me that I’m a moron because half the time I have no idea what they are talking about. Wednesday afternoon, I was talking with a group of kids who make up some of the seven Carl Junction Destination Imagination teams that qualified to compete in the Destination Imagination Global Finals on May 21-24 in Knoxville, Tenn. The kids — juniors Chris Good and Scott Knutzen, and freshmen Nii-Addo Abrahams, Nicole Phipps, Megan Miller, Kai Ducre and Andrew Johnson — were talking about the projects that earned them a trip to the finals. At one point, Chris was explaining how a complicated set-piece his team created works. He explained to me how a hydraulic drill somehow powered something that somehow caused something else to move a pair of bookcases so that a fireplace would appear. Chris lost me after he said “hydraulic drill,” but I, not wanting to be rude, nodded my head while he talked. Of course, it’s also possible that I nodded my head because I didn’t want to look like a moron in front of a bunch of smart kids. In a Destination Imagination competition, teams pick a challenge from five presented by the folks who run the international competition. The teams must create a skit that solves the problem in a creative and logical way. Because the skits require imagination, writing skills and technical expertise, as well as talented artists, the competition is your ultimate “left brain/right brain” challenge. “It’s a celebration of creativity,” is how Chris put it. Although Carl Junction routinely qualifies teams for the global finals year after year, this is the first year that seven high-school and junior-high teams managed to make the finals. “I don’t want to brag,” Lori Good said. “But this is an exceptional group of kids.” Lori knows a thing or two about kids. She’s Chris’ mom; Chris’ twin sister, Lauren, is also on a Destination Imagination team. Lori, who teaches in the Carl Junction Junior High School gifted program, is the team manager for the seven teams that qualified for the finals. She has spent a number of years guiding students through the competitive process. But don’t say that around Lori. She will tell you that she has spent a number of years watching the kids guide themselves through the process. See, as far as Lori is concerned, it’s all about the kids. In fact, I’m pretty sure the only reason Lori spoke with me is because I told her I would talk about the kids and their upcoming fund-raiser that they hope will bring in enough dough to cover the remaining fees associated with their trip to Knoxville. On May 17, the Destination Imagination teams are sponsoring a four-person golf scramble at Joplin’s Schifferdecker Municipal Golf Course. The scramble gets under way at 1 p.m. If you would like to play in the tournament or sponsor a hole, you can call Chuck Good (yeah, that’s Lori’s husband) at (417) 649-8786. At 7:30 p.m. that day, the teams will perform two old-fashioned Western melodramas at the school district’s Jerry B. Stark Performing Arts Center, followed by an ice-cream social. The melodramas will be performed by the high-school and junior-high Destination Imagination teams. The cost of the evening event is $5. So there, Lori. I did what I said I was going to do. Now I’m going to do what Chuck asked me to do. I’m going to brag on you for him. See, Chuck told me that you recently were named the Secondary Teacher of the Year and the Teacher of the Year at the annual Carl Junction Chamber of Commerce banquet. Chuck told me he thought that was cool, and I agree with him. But here is the real cool part. Lori, Chuck told me that you didn’t go to the banquet to pick up your awards. He told me that you opted to attend a Four-State Band concert in Pittsburg, Kan. He said you skipped the banquet because Chris and Lauren were performing in that concert. 
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