Morningside students get creative and win competition

A team of five Morningside Elementary fourth graders have won the Creative Pursuit Division One state championship in a competition held Nov. 29 at Peruvian Park Elementary.

For Kay Allard and her class of 28 students, it was a joint effort. It all began when she divided her class into six teams. They competed against each other, and one of the teams was chosen to represent the school at the state level.

Even with the help of their class, it was a lot of work for Anna Johnson, Talmage Barney, Steven Blodgett, Rachel Prince and Maya Wagner. This year’s theme was “Fantastic Factology.”

“This is time consuming but worthwhile,” Allard said. “It is good to see the students creatively stretched and embrace ownership of the project.”

The Creative Pursuit challenge is comprised of three parts. First, the students come up with a Creative Pursuit problem which they present in an interactive fact or opinion book, based on the core curriculum for their grade. This is completed ahead of time. The students are interviewed about their contribution.

The day of the contest, the students participate in two impromptu problems. One of the problems is visual and another is verbal. Each member of the team is required to respond without repeating a previous answer.

And lastly, they have three minutes to make an original presentation that usually takes the form of a skit. They are given a list of props that are available to use in their presentation.

The Morningside fourth grade team is studying the environment in Utah. They incorporated this into their skit by basing it on “The Wizard of Oz,” only for this group it was “The Forest of ahhs.”

The students danced down the yellow brick road and were met by Smokey the Bear and others as they presented facts about the environment. “I think their skit is what won it for them,” Allard said. “It was really cute.”

“Creative Pursuits is a great way for the students to look a problem solving in a creative way,” Morningside Principal Joan Bramble said. “They create a product while working together.”