After a six-year hiatus, Destination Imagination is back by demand in Bigfork Middle School.

The Ti-Rangles, a team of seven Bigfork Middle School students, put their creative and innovative thinking to the test, earning first place at a state-level Destination Imagination competition March 22 in Manhattan, Mont.

Destination Imagination is a nonprofit organization with a mission to motivate students to solve problems, search for creative solutions and work cooperatively.

Bigfork seventh-graders Evan Benton, Grant Gibson, Cole Hider, K.C. Isaman and Ben Johnson and eighth-graders Riley Hoveland and Reuben Hubbard competed in a structural challenge called “Tension Builds.”

The win qualifies them — and more than 8,000 other students from 15 countries in elementary through college  — to compete at Destination Imagination Global Finals 2014 in Knoxville, Tenn., May 19 through 24.

At Global Finals, teams compete in one of six technical, fine arts, scientific, improvisation, structural or service learning challenges. During finals, students can check out the latest in technology at an Innovation Expo and meet officials from NASA, U.S. Space and Rocket Center and National Geographic.  

The Ti-Rangles’ goal is to raise $15,000 by May 20 to cover registration and all expenses to attend Global Finals 2014 where they will compete in the structural challenge.

They have raised approximately $4,000 so far and have organized several upcoming fundraisers.

In previous years Bigfork had a strong showing at Destination Imagination competitions when it was part of the district’s gifted and talented program. In 2004, a Bigfork team won first at Global Finals but cuts in state funding led to the dissolution of the gifted and talented program; Destination Imagination followed suit.

Parents Shauna Gibson and Laurie Hider, whose oldest children participated in Destination Imagination, have teamed up to organize and manage a new team and give their younger children and other students the same opportunity.

Although Bigfork was the only middle school team to compete in the “Tension Builds” structural challenge at state, its scores were comparable to other challenge winners.

“We were given scores afterward and we saw we scored among the highest,” Shauna Gibson said.

The Ti-Rangles had to build a structure that would stand up to pressure of force. The Bigfork team created a rectangular-shaped structure using just wood, glue and fishing line.

“We had to build structure that weighed less than 80 grams just to see how much weight it could hold,” Grant Gibson said, adding they also had to create a skit related to how tension is overcome.

Their structure withstood the equivalent of 322.5 pounds, Hoveland said.

“A woman who has been judging for 18 years she said she’s never seen a structure hold more than 300 pounds,” Cole Hider said.

Part of the challenge is being able to solve problems under pressure and improvise when complications arise.

“It’s suggested that they carry around an emergency kit for problems that come up, like at one point the backdrop ripped when it was being slid onto the stage, so they got their duct tape out,” Shauna Gibson said.

Originally, their wood structure was an inch too high and not wide enough to meet competition requirements.

“We had to chop off the top and carve out some of the inside,” Grant Gibson said.

The team also created a skit and built a prop on-site to demonstrate tension of multiple types — structural and social.

“The challenge was to include as many tensions as they could,” Shauna Gibson said. “The skit needed to include a problem with tension and how it’s overcome.”

On April 17 the team gathered to practice for finals and rehearsed an eight-minute skit, which takes place in the land of Polyhedra. During the skit, a pile of props was placed in front of a backdrop to represent a demolished bridge between neighboring kingdoms of squares and circles.

The kingdom’s squabbling kings blame each other for the bridge and declare war. Builders from each kingdom set out to assemble the prop pieces and rebuild the bridge. Despite each builder constructing the bridge “their way,” they end up successfully connecting in the middle and it sustains the weight of the two kings who stand on each side.

The skit, peppered with humor, is the team’s strong suit, Shauna Gibson said.

“Three of the team members have been involved in theater,” Shauna Gibson said. “I think they have a really strong skit and a really strong structure.”

For more information on making donations, call Shauna Gibson at 212-1260. Learn more about the team or the program www.Facebook.com/BigforkDI or www.destinationimagination.org.

Reporter Hilary Matheson may be reached at 758-4431 or by email at hmatheson@dailyinterlake.com.