Little kids, big ideas at Destination ImagiNation

VIRGINIA BEACH

The Amazing Ambassadors needed to create an eight -minute skit to surprise and dazzle the judges.

One of the elementary school students suggested an evil veggie character that turned people into vegetables. It didn't fly.

"It was just really weird," Rylee Toler, 10, said. "There was chocolate in it."

Someone else wanted to depict the impeachment of a president.

But the Ambassadors voted it down - in favor of groundhogs.

"There were more possibilities," said Claire Stickley, 11.

The groundhog concept, involving a zany underground assault of the White House, turned out to be a winner for the Ambassadors, seven students from Norfolk Christian Schools' Beach campus.

The students took first place this spring in the regional and state competitions of Destination ImagiNation, an international creative problem-solving contest.

They call themselves the Ambassadors after the school's mascot. "We also thought we were amazing," Sarah Stickley, 9, said.

On Wednesday, they go to the "global finals" in Knoxville, Tenn., where more than 7,000 students are expected to compete.

"We didn't really think we were going to make it," Meredith Fenton, 9, said. "It was kind of surprising."

The competition consists of two challenges. In one, the team had weeks to prepare a production that follows certain guidelines, such as using an optical illusion and three set pieces that must be connected to form a new set piece. In the other, the students will have minutes to solve a problem presented at the contest.

Adults serve as "team managers " but can't coach.

Sponsored by several companies and organizations, the Destination ImagiNation program is meant to teach children such skills as teamwork, project management and critical thinking.

This is the second year that Norfolk Christian's Beach campus has participated.

In the Ambassadors' program, three renegade groundhogs dig under the White House to make it sink. Their leader, Punxsutawney Phyllis, demands "better burrow conditions" from a goofy, bespectacled president.

"She wants every day to be Groundhog Day," says Meredith, in character as a groundhog. "If you don't give her what she wants, the Washington Monument might be next."

The show features singing and cheerleading, costumes of paper bags and Groucho Marx glasses, and a set decorated with dried pasta and Twizzlers.

It took months to write the script and a strict deadline for everyone to memorize their lines.

The Ambassadors say it was worth it because they got to spend time with friends and practice a new way of thinking.

"In school, the goal is to get it done," Meredith said. In the Destination ImagiNation program, she said, "you want to add the extra little detail that they would be impressed by."

Besides competing, the Ambassadors are looking forward to karaoke and a 1980s dance at the four-day global event.

"We want to do our best," Claire said. "We do want to win, but I'm sure everybody wants to win."

Amy Jeter, (757) 446-2730, amy.jeter@pilotonline.com