Annika Mayer, Jana Delp, and Emily Feldman, three fifth graders from Bergen Valley Elementary, won first place in the Private DI Improvisational Challenge at the JeffCo Destination Imagination Tournament on March 21. In addition, they were given the Renaissance Award in recognition of their extreme creativity and well-developed story line.

The three girls have been practicing improv techniques, and the teamwork and creative problem solving techniques essential to solving the tasks of the instant challenges, at weekly meetings since December. In addition, they had to research 6 famous sleuths and 6 film genres in preparation for the tournament. Their challenge, Private DI, required that they prepare a 6-minute skit incorporating one sleuth and 3 film genres, which were randomly selected from those they had researched. They had 30 minutes to create a story to explain the origin of the superstition that a horseshoe over your door will bring good luck. In addition, they had to build props and make costumes from supplies such as cardboard tubes, plastic bags, pie pans, and other recycled materials.

The Stardust Storytellers will compete in the state-wide Destination Imagination tournament on April 18 in Denver.