GILROY
– A group of Gilroy High School students who won first-place in
the state for their problem solving skills last month are dealing
with an entirely different issue in May.
GILROY – A group of Gilroy High School students who won first-place in the state for their problem solving skills last month are dealing with an entirely different issue in May.
The team’s first-place finish in the Destination Imagination problem-solving competition held in Fresno last month made it eligible to compete in Knoxville, Tenn., where this year’s national finals are being held. But the dilemma is this – the cost of getting there is $1,000 per student and GHS does not have the money to fund the trip.
“We’re definitely going to the competition, but we’re going to have to fund raise retroactively to help some of the kids pay their share,” said Doris Dorn, the team’s parent advisor.
The team, called The Full Deck, sent out letters to local businesses recently asking for financial help and on June 19 they will hold a fund raiser at Chevy’s, where part of the proceeds from meals go to their cause.
“It gets hard at the high school level to focus on a fund raiser like this,” Dorn said. “These kids are in AP classes, and they’re working on fund raisers for other activities, too. It’s not like there’s a lot of extra time on their plate.”
Much of the cost for the Tennessee trip involves shipping the materials –from PVC pipe and cardboard to wood and concrete – that will be used in the competition.
The team’s challenge is to design two different technical devises for transportation that are built from the same set of parts. After the transportation devise moves along its first required route, it must be taken apart and move down a second required route.
A skit, with a corresponding change in direction or plot twist, is performed by the group as the vehicle moves down its paths.
The Full Deck members are: Kelly Barham, Adrienne Watkins, Laura Howard, Ted Hewitt, Amy Van Gundy and Brendan Clark.
Those interested in supporting the team can send donations to California Creativity, Region II, care of Don Bevilacqua, 741 Fifth St., Gilroy, CA 95020. Reference the Gilroy Global Finals Travel Fund. For more information, contact Doris Dorn at 848-2469.
