Welcome the team from Jaffrey Grade School! Meet David, Loey, Mekenzie, Wendy, Mariah, Meredith, and Joiya!

This team has had an amazing year and now they are heading to compete with teams from about 20 countries and all 50 states!

"The most challenging part of DI would probably have to be performing at state competition and also surviving the Instant Challenge", according to Meredith. Mariah said " I think the most important thing about DI is creativity and to have fun". " I felt like it was the creativity, the team work and the fun", according to Loey.

What else did they learn? "Don't ever put duct tape on yourself and then rip it off! Ouch!", said Mariah. Mekenzie found it was "being able to be crazy and being wacko and having people be like you in a away". Wendy valued "working with my friends to make a skit and building scenery". Joiya "loved thinking of more and more steps to our Rube Goldberg contraption". That device helped distinguish this team at State Finals with a Renaissance Award for outstanding design, engineering, execution, performance.

What was fun? "Opening ceremonies [ in New Hampshire] and also watching some of the other team's performances and watching how amazing they are performing", according to Meredith. This team has enjoyed the NH performances, but they also get to watch the World's best -- and they are among them!

 

It was a great day at the Knoxville Convention Center as Jaffrey Grade School entered the venue with loud cheering from both Team New Hampshire, as well as a supportive audience from around the US and the World.

Their Challenge, Round About Courage blends play writing, theater arts (theater in the round, props and set pieces), technical effects innovation and design process, teamwork to some very specific scoring areas.

The storyline opened: Princess Topaz constantly daydreams about meeting the perfect prince: handsome and charming. Two fairy godmothers come to her aid promising that if she completes three tasks they will take her to Prince No-Know. The tasks give her wisdom and she realizes that she wants more in a man than just a pretty face.

Not only did the team take us through the story, but their amazing technical effects device added to the story, rather than distracting from it.

At the State Finals, the Jaffrey Grade School team won a Renaissance Award for outstanding design, engineering, execution, performance. The State Finals appraisers said: "This team demonstrated outstanding design, engineering AND performance with their story about a heroic search for the main character’s personal value. The technical device showcased their exceptional skills in engineering as they combined multiple simple machines to create a complex Rube Goldberg device that functioned several times flawlessly during the skit. Their device was very well integrated into the story and they utilized the entire theatre area throughout the performance".

This was clearly evident with the loud applause and cheering the team received after their great Team New Hampshire performance! Great job!!!