Seven students from Riverview Elementary School who call themselves The Bumfuzzlers are scheduled to compete in an international tournament that requires more imagination than it took to come up with their collective name.
The Riverview Seven are headed for Knoxville, Tennessee, for the Destination Imagination competition May 22-25 that brings together state champions from the United States and about 50 teams from foreign countries.
Destination Imagination is a nonprofit based in New Jersey that annually prepares challenges in several fields to stimulate young minds. Teams tackle on-the-spot conundrums as well as compete in the field of their choice.
The Bumfuzzlers chose the STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) field. In their own words, their project, which won first place in Colorado to catapult them into the globals in Tennessee, developed this way:
“We started working after school last October, working three days a week after school and often at night and on weekends.
“Our challenge dealt with sound waves. We had to create an incredible sound machine that produced two different sounds using two different physical methods. We also had to create two different visual displays of sound waves, which is called cymatics.
“We also had to create a skit in which the narrative pace changed at some point. Our sound machines and our cymatic displays had to be integrated into the skit.”
Team members are trying to avoid the fate that befell the Riverview team last year. The Frozones, whose project proposed a way to live at the bottom of a crevasse in an Antarctic iceberg, won first place at state. But the team was frozen out of the global competition because it couldn’t raise enough money for travel and other expenses.
The Bumfuzzlers are about one-half of the way to the $16,000 they need for the trip to Knoxville, thanks to donations or pledges from local businesses and others.
Mercury, Durango’s homegrown credit-card processing company, has put up $5,000; Global Technology Management has kicked in $1,000; StoneAge Tools has offered $500, and Zia Taqueria $200. Doting grandparents have contributed $2,500 and online donations about $1,000.
The members of the Bumfuzzlers are fifth-graders Shaw Kassay, the son of Emily and John Kassay; Harrison Beattie, the son of Alana and Todd Beattie; Anna McCulloch, the daughter of Peggy and Kevin McCulloch; Kenzie Galloway, the daughter of Elizabeth Gordon; Grace Holst, the daughter of Jon Holst and Cara-Lyn Lappen; and Emy Mattox, the daughter of Alison Mulholland and Paul Mattox. Avery Hand, the daughter of Laura and Jim Hand, is the lone fourth-grader.
daler@durangoherald.com
To donate
Donations would be welcomed and can be made at www.gofundme.com/tgk8r8rc.
