Childhood is often a time of unbridled creativity, where the world of possibility is only limited by the imagination. The international program Destination ImagiNation channels that creativity into annual team challenges, where elementary, high school and college students compete to be the most creative.

On Saturday, Destination ImagiNation teams from around Oregon gathered for the state finals at Oregon State University. Teams from as close as Benton County and as far away as Ontario converged on Corvallis to demonstrate their skills in theater, improv, art, technical design and many other creative arenas. Winners get a shot at the Destination ImagiNation global finals, scheduled for May at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.

In the Memorial Union Ballroom, a crowd of parents, students and community members were gathered in a large circle, forming the audience of a theater in the round. Group after group of colorfully attired theater troupes came into the circle to perform an eight-minute skit. A large team of appraisers stood nearby, jotting down notes on everything from the teams' costumes to their ability to speak their lines.

John Park of Corvallis was one of the appraisers, and has been participating in Destination ImagiNation since his children joined teams 10 years ago. He was a team manager for awhile, and once his oldest daughter went on to college, he switched to being an appraiser.

"We're mostly looking at the creativity, balanced with the execution," Park said. Each team is scored on a variety of elements, and the appraisers watch each performance carefully, marking notes on their score sheets, and then asking the students questions afterward.

"We try to give kids as many points as possible," Park said. "Sometimes the idea has tremendous creativity and courage, but the idea may not look real pretty."

Other times, the idea is simple, but the execution is particularly elegant. Creativity is the key, and although parents are supposed to support and encourage their teams, they are not supposed to get involved in the process.

The ideas, costumes, props and anything else involved in the presentation must be student-created, from the dialogue of a play to the seam of an elf costume. It's not always easy to be a hands-off parent, Park said, but it's crucial to the philosophy behind Destination ImagiNation.

The team from Jacob Wisner Elementary, out of Portland, was particularly excited to perform. The North Pole-themed skit involved elaborate elf and robot costumes and a bunch of enthusiastic actors, including Ritapa Neogi, who played the Head Elf, and Rea Kapur, who played an elf secretary, a monkey, and Bad Santa.

"My hands are so sweaty!" Ritapa exclaimed as they prepared to go on.

Rea admitted she'd coveted the head elf part, but when she didn't get it, she was satisfied playing three other crucial roles, which kept her on stage almost the whole performance. In fact, once she stood in front of the audience, her enthusiastic elf, monkey and evil Santa nearly overpowered the other actors.

The scene between Bad Santa and the Head Elf was particularly riveting, involving loud clanging sticks instead of swords, and Bad Santa's defeat was clearly keenly felt as she lay thrashing on the ground.

Appraiser Cyndi Panko's son got involved in Destination ImagiNation in the second grade. He's now ready to graduate from OSU, and was volunteering as an appraiser at another challenge across the campus. The program has been a big part of the Panko family for a long time.

"I think (Destination ImagiNation) helped him get into OSU."

For more information on Destination ImagiNation, go to www.oregondi.org

Mid-valley placers

A number of mid-valley teams placed highly during Saturday's Destination ImagiNation Oregon State Tournament at Oregon State University.

The following is a list of local schools that placed in the top three at the tournament.

First-place winners are eligible to go on to the global competition, next month in Tennessee.

Ashbrook Independent School: Second place, Card-DI-ology, middle level.

Cheldelin Middle School: First place, Card-DI-ology, middle level; Second place, CSI:DI, middle level.

Corvallis High School: First place, Switching TraDItions, secondary level.

Hoover Elementary School: Second place, CSI:DI, elementary level; second place, Card-DI-ology, elementary level; third place, Card-DI-ology, elementary level.

Philomath Middle School: Third place, Switching TraDItions, middle level.