The Holy Avenue Elementary School Improv Team is one of the top 10 teams in the world after coming in ninth place in the Destination ImagiNation Global Finals last week at the University of Tennessee.
The Improvisational Competition featured 75 championship teams representing 45 states, seven Canadian provinces, and 13 countries including Korea, Turkey, China, Canada, Mexico, and Singapore. The Holly Avenue team had the fifth highest score in the competition.
“The team performed very well under pressure and tight time constraints. We are so proud of them considering they joined Destination Imagination for the first time,” said team parent Pranjit Saha.
The Destination ImagiNation Global finals are billed as “the largest creative thinking and problem solving competition in the world.”
“I learned to think creatively out of the box, to react quickly and smoothly to any situation, and teamwork is really important,” said team member Kaelyn Ong. The Holly Avenue Team, known as “Screamos,” got first place at state and regional competitions and were invited to compete at global finals in Knoxville, Tennessee during the week of May 22-26.
Placing in the top ten in Globals was unexpected for team manager Cindy Ong, who saw the Global Finals as an enriching life changing experience for the team to meet many international teams in one place, who are also the brightest and most creative. “We didn’t realize how close we were to the top until we got our improv performance score which was the fifth highest amongst 75 teams,” Ong said. The team is already planning on training this summer to improve their scores for next year.
Team members Pourobee Saha, Kaelyn Ong, Christian Lee, Jaehyeon and Jaewon Park trained with Cindy Ong, director of RTWKIDS Public Speaking after-school program at Holly Avenue Elementary School since last December for all three competitions. “The team has grown so much stronger in individual leadership and teamwork. In fact, this time at Globals, they received the highest teamwork score thus far. They have been trained to listen, observe, and react on the spot within seconds,” said Ong.
For more information on Improv Team training classes, see Arcadia Community Center Brochure under “Public Speaking” classes or email Cindy Ong at rtwkids@yahoo.com.