Nashua DI team raising funds to compete in global finals

NASHUA – A team of seven girls from Sunset Heights Elementary School competed in the Destination ImagiNation state tournament in Hampton recently and earned the right to compete against teams from all over the world at the global finals next month in Knoxville, Tenn. “Destination ImagiNation is a celebration of creativity and problem solving,” said team manager Polly Koczalka, mother of two of the team members. “Teams of up to seven kids work together to solve challenges – with no help from parents allowed. It’s amazing what can do when they only have their imaginations to hold them back.” Team GEEGLE-A – an acronym of the first initials of their names – wanted to do something to make a difference in their community, so they decided to solve the Project Outreach challenge by focusing on the needs of homeless animals. Their solution included a full-color tri-fold brochure and a PowerPoint presentation of an adoptable pet, a rotating money wheel for collecting donations and scenery projected onto a screen behind them. Their resulting score made them elementary level champions. “The growth I have seen in these kids over the past months has been amazing,” Koczalka said.