Slauson and Saline Middle School students raising funds to compete at Destination Imagination Global Finals

A handful of students from Ann Arbor's Slauson Middle School and Saline Middle School have come together as a team to compete in an international creative problem-solving and leadership skills training program called Destination Imagination.

The team earned a slot in the Global Finals tournament, happening at the University of Tennessee at the end of May, and will compete in the improv comedy category. A fundraiser benefit for the team happens Friday, May 10 at The Fifth Corner Teen Center, 211 Willis Rd. in Saline.

The combined team qualified for the Global Finals at the State of Michigan Destination Imagination Tournament, which took place on April 20, 2013 at Central Michigan University in Mt. Pleasant.

The Global Finals will involve teams from all over the country and the world, including Singapore, China, Columbia, and Poland.

Destination Imagination is "a process-based program helping young people build lifelong skills in creative and critical thinking, teamwork, time management and problem solving. Up to seven participants work together as a team for eight to twelve weeks to create their unique solution to a Team Challenge, which can have a focus that is theatrical, structural, improvisational, scientific or technical - or a blend of several disciplines."

Donations to support the team's trip to the Global Finals may be made via PayPal at paypal@salinedi.org, or by check, sent to Brenda Willwerth, 10353 Saline Milan Rd., Saline, Michigan, 48176. Otherwise, details about Friday's fundraiser can be found in this press release:

The 5th Corner Teen Center in Saline will hold a movie night fundraiser for the combined middle school team from Slauson Middle School of Ann Arbor, along with Heritage Elementary School and Saline Middle School of Saline Area Schools, that qualified for the Destination Imagination Global Finals Affiliate Tournament. The cost for the team to attend the tournament is $5,500.

According to the team manager, Dr. Missi Nadeau, “the Global Finals tournament is the Little League World Series of creative problem solving. We are proud to represent Ann Arbor and Saline schools and our state. This is an amazing accomplishment for a first-time middle school team and a great example of collaboration between school districts and the commmunity. These students are talented comedians.”

Destination Imagination is a process-based program helping young people build lifelong skills in creative and critical thinking, teamwork, time management and problem solving. Up to seven participants work together as a team for eight to twelve weeks to create their unique solution to a Team Challenge, which can have a focus that is theatrical, structural, improvisational, scientific or technical - or a blend of several disciplines.

The movie night will begin with an improv comedy performance by the team at 8 p.m., followed by a showing of "The Amazing Spiderman" from 8:30-11 p.m. Along with the movie, The Fifth Corner has a lower level with a wide variety of game systems, TVs, and a concession area in a teen-friendly atmosphere.

Jenn McKee is an entertainment reporter for AnnArbor.com. Reach her at jennmckee@annarbor.com or 734-623-2546, and follow her on Twitter @jennmckee.