Seven Arcadia middle school students are heading to the state finals in Yosemite April 9 for a chance to complete in the global finals after taking second place in the regional team improvisational Destination ImagiNation competition held recently in South Pasadena.
Six students from First Avenue Middle School — Aneesh Khera, Victor Wang, Sirej Dua, Keith Leung, Steven Kurniawidjaja, Ryan Ong, and Dana Middle School student John Quinn formed Team D.I. Joe under team manager Cindy Ong.
Ryan Ong called the competition “an impossible dream.”
“It was a sudden decision for us to join, and we wanted to benefit from it as a learning experience and a bonding amongst friends,” said manager Ong. The team joined during the last five weeks when the norm is usually at least four months of preparation. For many hours a week. Cindy Ong and the seven students would research and discuss strategies of the competition. The section they entered was an Improvisation challenge titled “Mythology Mission” in which they had to research more than six different countries and 72 cultural artifacts. The challenge was that during the competition each team was given five minutes or less to perform a situation based on the given country, totally “out of the box’ thinking, with a surprise element that was intended to throw them off (such as a vending machine during an ancient burial ritual). Definitely a challenging assignment for only those who can quickly think on their feet.
“I still can’t believe we came in second in the Regionals and are heading to Yosemite for the State Competition!,” Cindy Ong said.
The students managed to balance their academics and extra-curricular activities to meet the demanding schedule and challenge of this improvisational competition. “It was really fun and I learned a lot about working together efficiently. Definitely, will do it again next year!” stated member John Quinn.