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Pearson headed to finals for Destination Imagination

The team from H.M. Pearson Elementary School qualified for the Destination Imagination Global Finals next month in Knoxville, Tennessee, where it will compete with others from around the world to showcase their solutions to the Service Learning Challenge.

“The Somethings from HMP” will be the only team from Fauquier County Public Schools in the finals May 23-26.

In the Service Learning Challenge, teams identify, design, carry out and evaluate a project that addresses a need in a real community. As its project, the Pearson team chose to make medical kits for children in Uganda who suffer from jiggers on their feet. The challenge involved research, critical thinking and problem-solving.

In the second part of the challenge, teams produce live presentations that highlight the projects and the results. They also create storage devices that transform as the stories of the projects unfold. The Pearson DI team received feedback and incorporated the suggestions for improvement on each of the project components after participating in the regional and state competitions.

Fourth-graders Casey Ciampaglione, Samantha Johnston, Chris Laws and Colin MacMahon comprise the Pearson team. Vicki Johnston, a fifth-grade teacher at Pearson, serves as the team manager with help from parent Heather MacMahon.
 
“Globals is an amazing, once-in-a-lifetime chance for the kids to be able to see what all the other teams have been doing since the challenge began,” Mrs. Johnston said. “It will also allow them to meet people from around the world from different cultures and see different types of solutions to the different challenges. It is an international celebration for everybody.”

The Global Finals team experience comes with a $4,500 price tag, and “The Somethings from HMP” are looking for sponsors to help get them there.

Contributions, payable to the school, may be mailed to H.M. Pearson Elementary, 9347 Bastable Mill Road, Catlett, Va. 20119.