The Ivy REALM middle school team, comprised of students from International Community School, Kamiakin Middle School and Kirkland Middle School, won third place out of 73 teams competing at the international Destination Imagination Global Finals tournament in Tennessee for the structure building challenge.

The team built a 21 gram structure that held 760 pounds of weight while sustaining 17 side-twisting impacts from a battering ram.

They also wrote and performed a skit that included a surprising twist. One of the props made for the performance, a bulldog marionette, earned the team the Renaissance Award for outstanding creativity.

Teams from 45 states and 14 countries competed at Destination Imagination Global Finals on May 22-25 Knoxville, Tenn.

Students on the team are Adam Chen (seventh grade, KiMS), Laura Chen (seventh grade, KaMS), Mady Colantes (seventh grade, KaMS), Eric Gery (seventh grade, KiMS), Anna Stahlschmidt (sixth grade, KaMS), Ronya Strom (sevent h grade, ICS) and Claire Whiteside (sixth grade, KaMS).

The WinDInators, an elementary level team, competed and finished seventh out of 70 teams in their division of the scientific challenge at Global Finals. This team wrote and performed a story incorporating facts about wind energy while showcasing a team designed and built kinetic art.

The students on this team are Amy Chen, Helen Arnold and Kayra Inslee, fifth graders from Lakeview Elementary, along with Anna Whiteside from Ben Franklin Elementary.