The Final Post

I lost track of the writing blogs on our last couple of meetings. The team had a flurry of activity leading up to state. During the last two meetings they added two original songs to their sound affects along with a live trumpet performance. They had rehearsals where they tried to put this all together but in all honesty they never really had a rehearsal where they had every element put together and perfected.

The afternoon before state some of the St. Bernard people traveling to state met in the school parking lot, decorated cars, and caravaned to the hotel we stayed at in Wisconsin Rapids. At the hotel that night we had a banquet room with pizza and salad and everyone enjoyed some camaraderie. Team 1 had an early performance which meant leaving the hotel around 6:30am. We arrived in Stevens Point with plenty of time to get a great parking spot, the gear was quickly unloaded. The facility was very nice with a great prep area just outside the performance room. This gave the team plenty of room to assemble the hive, repair damage to the pieces of grass, get their costumes on, and do a little bit of meditating (it's become a team tradition!).

The time passed quickly and before we knew it it was time to hand over the paperwork, answer the litany of silly questions, and get ready to move into the "launch" area. The team was then introduced and the show began. You can view the video at the link below but suffice it to say the team put together an amazing performance. Things went off without a hitch, the crowd and appraisers were into it, the timing on the sound affects was great, no lines were forgotten, and the pheromones were released as sucessfully as I've seen them. Even the grand finale had more impact than usual (ask Ben if you don't believe me, see the video it is hilarous), and portions of the crowd jumped to their feet when time was called.

After watching this performance take shape over the course of the season and watching many rehearsals this was by far the best it's been, up until this point the regional tournament had been the best performance; the team outdid itself at State.

The team had an interesting Instant Challenge. The team left the IC feeling bad about their performance, I can't go into details but at the last second something happened that in the eyes of the appraisers caused them to lose nearly all of the points they had gained. In the "chill out room" where the team goes to talk amongst themselves about the IC they decided that the appraisers had erred in their judgment. They asked if they could talk to someone. The people running the room agreed to contact the IC challenge master. In the meantime the team was led outside and introduced to the crowd (which was a cool touch) unfortunately the team was distracted kind of ruining this cool moment. They finally did get to talk to the challenge master and explained their interpretation of the rules and how they felt they may deserve more points than awarded. The challenge master agreed to review their situation and that they would find out when they received their final scores how it turned out. As of this writing we still haven't seen the final scores, they should be posted on line sometime soon.

Since the team was finished early they were able to view quite a few other performances and just hang out which was nice. Some members had to leave early but four were able to stay for the awards ceremony. There was a fraction of a second when the middle level Instinct Messaging places were being read where it seemed like a trip to Tenessee might be in our future. The first place team was "St." I don't know what they said next but it wasn't Saint Bernards.

So the season came to an end, but it was a great season, hopefully everyone had fun, I know I did!

Meeting #25 - 4/13/09

The team had a lot of fun tonight. They got some good work done with the pheromone emitter being tuned up, the Bee dancing instructions being redone in permanent marker, the evil Dermestes costume being made to look just a little more evil, and the hive getting the hot glue treatment to help hold it all together.

Much like the meetings leading up to the regional tournament the team attempted a couple of rehearsals, none of which were done cleanly. Then to have some fun they had to re-act the performance but with a different personality. I had them draw cards with names such as Brett Favre, Edward Cullen, Barack Obama, etc. on them. They then had to re-act their performance in that personality. The team had a lot of fun with this and wanted to do another round so they all picked their own charecter and I tried to guess who they were. It quickly broke down into mahem and time was running out so we opened the garage door and called it a night.

Meetings #23 & 24 - 4/12/09

I missed writing a blog from our meeting after the regional tournament so I'll do a combo blog. The first meeting after regionals the team came with a lot of great ideas to improve their overall solution to the challenge. We went shopping for some supplies to make Dermestes costumer a little more evil looking; other than that not much progress was made, one small step back was actually taken when an accident occurred and the bee hive got broken a bit. After this meeting I had the sense the team was a bit burnt out.

The second meeting after regionals went a bit better. The team made good progress on sprucing everything up, the flower stands and flowers were rebuilt so they can make the big trip to Stevens Point a little better, the hive was repaired and improved, and the pheromone emitter was reworked a bit for more dramatic results. The team also did a performance based instant challenge. They felt this was their weakest area, they think they are pretty good at task based challenges. The challenge I gave them was to pick a holiday which either didn't have a mascot (like the easter bunny or Santa Claus) or one that needed a new and improved mascot. They picked April Fools Day and the mascot was the April Fool. They put a nice story together where the April Fool went around playing tricks on a family including a sister, a sister who liked rocks, and a brother who thought he was a ninja. They did a nice job with this challenge and this usually is an area they struggle with.

We have a marathon of meetings this week to complete preperations for State.

That is all for now,

Mr. H.

The Regional Tournament - 4/4/09

The team started the day with a bright and early Instant Challenge at 8:30am. After signing in the team spent some time meditating in a circle (see the photo album if you don't believe me) then they went to wait to be called. I can't go into any details on the Instant Challenge itself but the team did very, very well on the challenge. They left the room bursting at the seams. After the challenge they take the team to a "chill out" room where they can talk as a team about the challenge. The team was pumped! They felt they did really well on the challenge and you could just sense the energy and enthusiasm they had from doing well. They were determined to carry this momentum into their main challenge at 10:30am.

After leaving the instant challenge it was time to unload and stage everything for the main challenge. The team had quite a bit of set pieces, props, and costumes to prepare. The list included a giant bee hive, three giant flowers, about 12 huge blades of grass, a sound system, a large newspaper, a huge flyswatter, the 6 legged evil Dermestes costumes, bee costumes, a queen bee costume, and a pheromone emitter. They got everything set up in plenty of time, got checked in and had plenty of time to wait for their challenge to start.

The challenge started and I am happy to say the team did by far their cleanest performance of their challenge they've ever done. No major lines were missed, there was some fun humor added in I haven't heard before and they successfully completed all of the main elements of the challenge.

It was nice being done early this allowed the team plenty of time to watch other teams perform and relax. The awards ceremony was late to start due to some scoring issues on another challenge. It was very exciting when the results were read for Middle Level Challenge B. The team ended up placing second which earns them the opportunity to go to the State Tournament in Stevens Point in two weeks. So the season and the blog continues. Stay tuned...

Meeting #22 - 4/3/09

The team had their final meeting before the regional tournament. They did two full performances, neither quite perfect, especially since I had to read for Grant since he was not feeling well (I made most of the mistakes). The team then packed up everything and loaded my van and the Warpinski's van. Tomorrow we start bright and early with the teams instant challenge at 8:30am.

Meeting #21 - 4/2/09

We'll call this the "wing" meeting. The bees all made their wings, check out the photo album to see some of the action. The final piece of the hive was also put together. Now they just have to load it all up Friday night, unload it, set it up, and perform.

The team did several rehearsals which were interesting. Hopefully we worked a lot of the bugs out because we had scenery falling down, people completely freezing and forgetting their lines, and running over the allotted time.

One sound affect was also added, the sound of a crowd cheering is added to the list of bees buzzing, birds chirping, chainsaws, and crickets. I'm sure you are wondering how all of these sounds are used in their performance; well you'll find out Saturday!

Meeting #20 - 3/31/09

We had a small group for this meeting. We took the opportunity to do an instant challenge. The team had to creatively move a concrete block using a variety of objects. They couldn't simply pick up the block and move it and they needed to create a story about why they were moving it. See the pictures for the team in action.

We also worked on the lines for one the scenes we've had the most trouble with. This scene is when Kilroy the outcast bee and Dermestes the evil enemy of bugs everywhere first meet. After multiple tries at it I think the lines for that scene are now down pat.

Some work was also done on the bee costumes which honestly haven't gotten much attention so far. Stripes are cut for most of the costumes and a plan is in place to make wings for all of the bees.

Two more meetings and then tournament!

Meeting #19 - 3/29/09

The team actually ran through their performance several times in under the allotted time without using scripts! The performances weren't completely flawless but they weren't too bad considering the amount of practice time they've had. We have three practices scheduled for this week leading up to tournament so we should be in good shape. There are a few new pictures in the album to check out, for the first time you can see the honey colored inside of the hive.

Meeting #18 - 3/28/09

One week from today is tournament. I went into today's meeting pretty nervous about where the team was; especially since one of their side trips (the evil bug Demestre's costume) hadn't even been started; as a matter of fact the team wasn't even sure who was playing the part.

The team quickly laid my nervousness to rest. They went right to work, figured out who was going to play the part of Demestre, designed a costume, we went shopping bought what they needed, and inside of an hour had a working costume. The team also made good strides in finishing up the bee hive, the centerpiece of their three dimensional set pieces, touched up their grass and flower bases, and got a few rehearsal's of their performance in. Now they just need to keep refining the story, learning their lines, and practicing. Between now and tournament we plan to meet quite a few times because the team has not had a lot of pure rehearsal time.

Unfortunately I didn't bring my camera to this meeting so there are no pictures in the photo album.

Meeting #17 - 3/15/09

The team had all team members present for only about the first hour today so they jumped right in and did two complete dress rehearsals. The total performance (including set up) can be no longer than 8 minutes, the first run through took them about 8.5 minutes, the second took almost 12 minutes. The script is still undergoing major revisions.

After rehearsals the team set to work on improving their set and prop pieces. Wooden bases were cut for all of the blades of grass and flowers (they've been easily tipping over as built), the flower bases were attached and several blade of grass bases and this seemed to help the stability quite a bit. One of the flowers was coming detached from it's stem so it was disassembled and put back together. The outer portion of the hive is now completely sewn together. The team also has plans to add some horizontal running ridges through the hive to make it look more authentic.

With the nice warm weather we are having the meeting ending with a spirited snowball (actually closer to slushball) fight. With tournament less than 3 weeks away we will most likely be adding some extra meetings so please keep checking your emails!

That's all for this week,

Mr. H.

Meeting #16 - 3/8/09

Sneak peek was yesterday meaning there is only 4 weeks until tournament. The team showed off their bee hive yesterday and did a fun improvisational instant challenge for the audience. They did a nice job and entertained the crowd well. They had to create a scene using audience suggestions. The scene started with one team member and then another team member entered the scene with a secret word they had to try to get the other team member to say. Once the word was said another team member with another word was inserted into the scene until all were in the scene. The scene was a Wal Mart greeter working on Christmas Day trying to deal with shop lifting.

Today the team resumed building all of their set pieces, at the end of the meeting they arranged most of their set pieces and did a quick rehearsal of the story. It was cool seeing all of the set pieces arranged together, overall it gave a nice impression (see the photo album). Some team members may meet during the week this week to continue sewing the bee hive which is taking longer than anticipated. The bee antennae were also constructed today. One side trip has also been selected. The team is using sound affects throughout their performance and will ask the judges to consider the use of sound affects throughout the performance as one of their side trips. Tentatively the other side trip will be the costume of the Dermestes bug (Ben's costume) which is interesting because as of this writing they don't have any idea how they are going to make this costume.

The next three regularly scheduled meetings will involve rehearsing, rehearsing, and rehearsing!

Meeting #15 - 03/01/09

Tournament continues to creep closer and closer, now only four regularly scheduled meetings until the big day in Seymour. Next weekend (Saturday, March 7th) is the sneak peek. Our team is scheduled in the 10:50am slot. The event takes place in the multi-purpose room.

Today the team contemplated all the items that remain to finish their central challenge. They need to finish their bee hive, giant flower, make a huge fly swatter, complete their costumes, and of course continue rehearsing and working on their overall presentation. The swatter part of the fly swatter was made (see pictures) and the giant flower was covered in blue duct tape. Now they need to figure out a way to make the giant flower stand up.

The team found some great sound affects to help with their performance, the sound of a chain saw and crickets chirping.

Some progress was also made on the bee hive today but much work remains. The team also attempted to act out their performance; much work remains their also. It looks like some team members may need to meet outside of the regular meeting time to complete everything they want to do.

Meeting #14 - 2/22/09

Tournament time is drawing closer and closer. We have only 5 regularly scheduled meetings between now and the tournament. Today the team buckled down and got quite a bit of work done. The scrip re-write is nearly complete (I'm sure there will be additional tweaks as they start acting it all out).

The sewing on the hive started today, Erin Whitney was not there and she is the most experienced in this type of thing but she had shared with some team members what to do and they jumped in and got a portion of the sewing done. The team also finished assembling the freestanding flowers and got a good start on the "jumbo" flower. The chain saw is also finished (although I think it still needs some work).

At the end of the meeting we did a quick instant challenge. The team did a great job with this challenge. The scenario was someone dropped their DI medal through a sewer grate and given some common items they had to retrieve it. After explaining to them no rule bending or cheating would be allowed they got to it and retrieved the medal in about 3 minutes flat; a very impressive result.

There are quite a few new pictures in the album this week showing their progress on everything so be sure to check them out.

Meeting #13 - 2/15/09

Our lucky 13th meeting. The team continued working on their set pieces. Most of the effort was focused on covering the bee hive (see the pictures for the latest). Much work remains on the set, story, and costumes and there are only six regularly scheduled meetings left (we will add more if necessary).

The team also did some rework to the story.

At the next meeting we'll try out the new story with some rehearsals and continue working on everything else. We'll also start getting back into instant challenge mode to get ready for tournament.

Meeting #12 - 1/31/09

The team used their time during an extended meeting today to make some serious progress on the building of set pieces. You'll want to check out the photo album to see the progress.

The frame of the bee hive is now complete and a rough plan on how to put a skin over it is in place. Several pieces of jumbo sized blades of grass have been built and painted and the large flowers/barbells are starting to take shape.

Meeting #11 - 1/25/09

We had a great productive meeting today!

The team made great progress on many of their set pieces/props. We have the beginnings of the bee hive, the flowers, the grass, and a great theoretical concept for one of the bee's pheromone emitter device. Amongst all of the designing, cutting, gluing, etc. I forgot to take any pictures!

The team will continue in this intense building mode for a couple of other meetings and then they will be trying to put it all together into an actual performance.

Next week we are going to have an open ended meeting so any members of the team who have more time to put in and are still being productive can keep working.

I'm hopeful the team will have everything partly completed by the beginning of March so they can more or less give their performance with most of the scenery, props, and costumes at least roughly in place. This would give them the balance of the month of March to refine, rehearse, and really polish up their presentation. This would also coincide with the sneak peek; if they can pull this off in the next few meetings I've never had a team this far along by the sneak peek!

Until next week,

Mr. H.

Meeting #10 - 1/11/09

Meeting number 10 was our first meeting at Chloe's house. The room above the garage and the garage itself looks like it's going to work out well for the team as they move into the construction phase of the challenge. Luckily Ben's allergies didn't seem to be affected either.

We started with a simple Instant Challenge. The team had to put a large loop of string in different shapes without talking to each other. It started easy with a simple circle, square, triangle and then got more difficult with arrow, candy cane, and star shapes. The team completed these tasks fairly easily so on a whim I asked them to see if they could do "cat's cradle" life sized using people instead of fingers. They dove into this new challenge with a lot of enthusiasm (maybe because they were able to talk again) and actually managed to pull off the first few moves; check out the pictures for some of the action. Then on their own they morphed this into team jump roping. It's amazing what a good DI team can do with just some simple string!

Our next order of business was our first shopping excursion of the season to find materials to begin the set/prop/costume building process. It's fun to watch other adults expressions as 7 8th graders descend on the stores with their minds set on finding some good stuff. The team has at least some idea of how they are going to build most of their items. Purchases today included PVC pipe and associated fittings, pieces of foam, and of course, duct tape. At our next meeting we'll start experimenting with putting some of this stuff together and see how it works out.

To end the meeting we did a quick walk through of the script and identified all of the props, scenery, and costumes that were needed as the story stands right now.

That is all for this week,

Mr. H.

Meeting #9 - 1/4/09

The first meeting of the new year.

Some good progress was made this meeting. This is was our last regular meeting at KI, after today's meeting we will typically meet at Chloe Warpinski's house. The Warpinski family has graciously offered the use of their garage and the room above their garage as we move into the construction phase of the season.

The team made good progress on the overall structure of the story, the team did several readings of the script and actually started to work on acting some of it out. The story is still coming together but all of the main elements are in place at this point in time.

A scale model of the main set piece was constructed (see the photo album for the result) and some good brainstorming on how to build the full size hive took place. There was also some planning on the overall costumes.

We also took a look at our schedule for the balance of the year. We have 11 regular meetings remaining in the season (we could add more in the last couple of weeks if required) and there does remain quite a bit of work to occur between now and then.