By NEAL WAGNER / City Editor

A group of Thompson Middle School students will be going up against students from all over the world next month after they placed first at a recent state tournament.

A TMS Destination Imagination team took home top honors and earned a perfect score during a state tournament held April 14 in Huntsville. As a result, the team will compete against teams from countries such as China and Brazil in the Destination Imagination global tournament at the University of Tennessee from May 23-26.

The TMS team consists of Jarod Davis, Emma Fell, Lydia Clarke, Amy Barber, Iris Garcia, Sarah Jones and Makayla Williams.

Destination Imagination is a creative problem-solving competition featuring team and instant challenges.

“During the team challenge, the team works for several months creating a solution to a given scenario through creating a skit, building and creating scenery and props, designing and making costumes, creating original music and sound effects and adding technical elements,” said TMS Destination Imagination team manager Luci Tucker. “They perform this skit solution in front of a panel of judges and are scored for several required elements, as well as the overall performance.”

During the instant challenge, the team is presented with a surprise problem it must solve within a time limit.

“For example, the team could walk into a room to find 50 toothpicks, one sheet of paper and two inches of masking tape and be told to construct a bridge in five minutes that will hold the most weight possible before breaking,” Tucker said.

Over the next several weeks, the team will be working to raise money to fund its trip to Knoxville, Tenn. The team will host a fundraiser pancake breakfast from 8-10 a.m. on April 21 at the Applebee’s restaurant on Alabama 119 in Pelham.

To attend the global competition, the team must raise about $5,000 in five weeks, Tucker said. Like everything else the team does, the fundraising efforts will be student-led.

To donate to the team, call Tucker at 682-5710 or email her at ptucker@shelbyed.k12.al.us.