Our Lady of Transfiguration students in global problem solving competition

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Thirty-one students from Etobicoke's Our Lady of Transfiguration Catholic School are letting their imaginations take flight to Tennessee this month to participate in a unique, global problem-solving competition.

The Destination Imagination (DI) finals, set to take place at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville from May 20 to 25, will pit Our Lady's five teams of Grade 7 and 8 students against more than 1,000 other teams from across the globe.

"It's a really unique competition combining aspects from science fairs, public speaking, arts, drama and improv," said Arlene Martin, who along with Lorinda Mazza-Webb, is one of the organizing teachers. "The three focuses of DI are creativity, problem-solving and critical-thinking."

Over the last six months, Martin said the students have worked extremely hard developing solutions to problems in one of five categories, qualifying for the global finals in four of them: structural engineering, improvisation, myth busting theatre and a mechanical vehicle obstacle design.

Two of the five teams will participate in the structural competition, the challenge for which was to build a wooden structure weighing less than 22 grams to hold the most amount of weight. Weighing in at just 16 grams, one of the teams' architectural masterpieces was able to withstand 300 pounds - and in two different orientations, at that, Martin said.

"The students are very excited for this trip," she added, noting that her students are equally enthralled at the prospect of meeting children from as far away as Australia and Korea. "We even made some TCDSB history as this is the first time an entire class has qualified for the global competition."