Mount Pleasant Independent School District Destination Imagination (DI) made history again when three additional teams qualified for the Lone Star Finals, bringing the total to eight, the most for MPISD since beginning DI in 2015.

On Saturday, February 22, two MPISD teams competed for the first time in DI eXtreme, a challenge that teams cannot prepare for ahead of time. Teams complete an Instant Challenge as well as a Central Challenge, having just one hour to prepare for the skit and then perform it for appraisers and an audience. The British Capydinos from Wallace Middle School and Mount Pleasant Junior High placed 2nd in the middle level division, advancing them to the Lone Star Finals. At Regionals they originally placed 4th in their division, knocking them out of state advancement. Team members are Allison Blackwell, Dannen Carroll, Shane Dimon, Anna Henry, Lily Henry, Ivania Jimenez, and Nayeli Pulquero.

And the combined team of Kinlee Castro, Kate Cluley, Callie Dimon, Jake Jones, Sam Jones, Annalie Mata and Mailen Tapia from Wallace Middle School and Mount Pleasant Junior High became the first team to qualify for state in three different challenges after placing 3rd at eXtreme. This team competed at Regionals in the Improvisational Challenge as the Uhmazing Undercover Underdogs and in the Engineering Challenge as the Flying Catapig Dumplings. Not only did they place 1st in both and advance to state in both, they earned the highest Instant Challenge score in the entire region and walked away with a special Renaissance award, a rare honor given by the appraisers to teams that demonstrate extraordinary amounts of effort and preparation in their solutions or outstanding skill in engineering, design or performance.

And on Sunday, February 22 the Silly Spidermonkeys 2.0 from Wallace learned that they were named a Score-Based Qualifier for the state tournament, awarded to the next highest-ranked team in the entire State of Texas based on score deviation from the advancing position. They originally placed 3rd at the Regional tournament, just 2 points away from advancing to state. Team members include Joseph Adame, Liam Boyd, Alexa Cano, and Zuleymi Mendoza.

Advancing teams will compete again at the Lone Star Finals at the University of Texas at Arlington on April 10 and 11. The MPISD Destination Imagination Teams are coached by Jamie King.

Photos:

1: eXtreme: State Qualifiers from DI eXtreme

2: The Silly Spidermonkeys 2.0