(CIELO VISTA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL – March 30, 2023) – Cielo Vista Elementary School took third place in the Improve category at the Texas Destination Imagination competition last week and earned a spot in the Global Finals taking place May 20-23 in Kansas City.

The team, made up of seven fifth graders, is the only El Paso ISD group to go to state and reach the Global Finals this year. Teams from 14 different countries will compete in Destination Imagination’s culminating tournament. Teams complete STEAM-based challenges using creativity, problem-solving skills and teamwork. Cielo Vista’s improvisational challenge required teams to research, use spontaneity and storytelling to create a skit within a short window of time, and then present the skit, which incorporated the challenge elements.

“It’s exciting that we’re going to compete against a lot of other teams,” Aaron Mellado said. “I like everything about DI – solving the challenges and acting. I think this is helping get Cielo Vista noticed because we are the only El Paso ISD team.”

Mellado and his teammate Jacquelyn Nahle’s favorite part of DI also is the pin trading, a tradition that kicks off the competition where teams mingle looking for unique pins to trade.

“I like walking around and seeing what cool pins other kids have. It’s really fun,” Nahle said. “I can’t wait to go to globals. I’m really excited because we did really good.”

The other five members of the team include Yzabella Guzman, Sebastian Camacho, Alessandra Zuniga, Tadiswa Chisoro and Charley Molina. They are coached by Jessica Armendariz, Alejandra De La Hoya and Lisa Lundin.