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RHS DI team brings home international honors again

Kay Vasilakis

Congratulations to the Rifle High School DestiNation ImagiNation team on their ninth-place finish at the DestiNation ImagiNation Global Finals, held in Knoxville, Tenn., May 21-25. The RHS team competed against 38 other teams. Eighteen thousand students in teams from Israel, Guatemala and numerous other countries from around the world competed in this celebration of creativity and problem solving.The DI team also took second place in their category in the Instant Challenge competition. The Instant Challenge is a performance-based challenge in which teams are given four minutes to create a skit using 10 specific words. Each team member had a specific word known only to that person. A requirement of the two-minute skit was to incorporate the words in a logical manner and clearly depict a journey with a beginning, middle and ending.During their stay in Tennessee, the RHS team took in some Southern culture as they watched a paddleboat and a gigantic barge. They also had their pictures taken with Louis Mandrell in the Louis Mandrell Theater in Pigeon Forge, Tenn. The students rode the Tennessee Tornado roller coaster up one of the many “hollers” (narrow canyons) in Dollywood.The last Esma Lewis Talent Show filled the gymnasium to the brim with enthusiasm on Friday, May 30. The staff motivated the students out of their shells and performing on stage, which resulted in gymnastic, dance, vocal and instrumental acts. Jonathan DeLeo impressed everyone as he took the stage in a solo karate performance. Entire classrooms performed acts including “Piggy Pie” and “Ice Cream for Breakfast,” which was complete with ice cream bars and straw hats. The female members of the faculty performed a dance number, including a chorus line, to “Breaking Up is Hard to Do.”Mrs. Steele’s class, all decked out in crazy hats, performed “I’m a Believer,” complete with an audience sing-along. The “Dancing Disco Divas and King” featured Travolta look-alike Jacob Collins as the disco king, and 12 girls, including Jasmine Trejo, who was the “Dancing Queen.” The act was coordinated by Courtney Vaccaro and performed to “Dancing Queen” by Abba. Traditionally, faculty members also perform at the Esma Lewis Talent Shows, and the faculty members lived up to everyone’s expectations this year. The female faculty members, students and parents gave a standing, screaming ovation to the “Esma Lewis T-Birds.” The group, comprised of Principal Howard Disney, Timothy Fifer, Keith Lambert, Patrick Smith, Bill Krejci and Chris Hunter, did a highly entertaining rendition of “Greased Lightning” for a memorable grand finale.-Have a great summer, everyone! School resumes for Re-2 students on Tuesday, Aug. 19.


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