SPHS Destination Imagination team takes first in State event

By Kyle Kan

Assoc. News Editor

South Pasadena’s Destination Imagination (DI) team placed first in the “Lose to Win” competition at the California state tournament on Saturday, March 30, securing them a spot in the Global Finals in May. DI, a non-profit, encourages students to use critical thinking and teamwork to solve unique and complex challenges. The team, “The Fellas over There with the Hella Good Hair,” is comprised of freshmen George Barrone, Kanak Belgaum, Amaey Konkar, Jayce Lilly, Ellis Spellerberg, and Dimitri Augart-Peponis, five of which are students at SPHS while the sixth is a South Pasadena resident who attends Bridges Academy in Studio City.

For their challenge they were required to build a structure that could withstand a 10 pound pressure board. Then, they had to remove parts of the structure without it collapsing with a self-made device while also telling a story of transformation using stage prop that changed throughout the entire process.

“The competition is really interesting, because you get to see how creative people are and how many extremely difficult solutions there can be for one challenge,” Belgaum said. “It’s really nerve racking before the awards ceremony.”

“The Fellas over There with the Hella Good Hair” have competed together as a team for three years in DI organized events, while Barrone, Belgaum, Konkar, and Spellerberg have competed together for four. They first found out about DI from a presentation at the middle school school and they have continued the program for its competitiveness and innovation..

The South Pasadena team hopes to raise the money necessary to fund the trip to their first Global Finals in Knoxville, Tennessee through various fundraising efforts, including an indiegogo campaign.

“From what I’ve heard and seen, [Global] looks amazing with so much to do, so I think it’s going to be an awesome experience for the team,” Belgaum said. “If all goes well, I think we can place in our challenge and come back home with yet another trophy.”