Starting out as one of five Steward Lower School teams competing at the Destination ImagiNation (DI) regional tournament in Richmond, a group of Steward fourth and fifth graders is now the only Richmond team going global.

Having placed first in the improvisational “News to Me” category at the regional level, the team represented Steward at the state tournament March 31. The team earned highest honors in its “News to Me” skill challenge category there, which led the way to a wildcard bid to global competition slated for May 23-26 in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Under the leadership of parents and team managers Sydney Smith and Kris Leverty, the team consists of fourth graders Dabney Leverty, Callen Smith, Channing Haas and James Cox, and fifth grader Katie Jobe.

After weeks of preparation, the team brought selected news stories with them to the challenge site. There, they randomly selected one of their stories and related it to a second news story they were given through a "cause and effect" relationship. Additionally, they were given a one-minute “glitch,” which they had to incorporate into their improvised skit.

This is the second Steward team to reach the Global DI competition in two years. Last year, the Middle School team of Mary Madison Andrews, Will Jackson, Danny Kovach, Taylor Leahy, Connor Parish, Quincy Rhodes and Grace Yucha advanced to global competition.

Destination ImagiNation, Inc. is a non-profit organization that provides educational programs in which student teams solve open-ended challenges and present their solutions at tournaments. Teams are tested to think on their feet, work together and devise original solutions that satisfy the requirements of the challenges.