Going global

A grad-school semester ends quietly, audible only in a collective exhale of relief. When the high school year ends, it does so with the clamor of a giant street party. For Jackson, sophomore year ended literally in jazz and celebration. Pictured here, he and the NRHS jazz ensemble closed out the year with an appearance at the state contest and the annual spring concert. Then it was off to Knoxville, Tenn., where the school's Destination Imagination® team competed for the second consecutive year at the Global Finals. The results are in: NRHS took 16th. That topped last year's placing of 21st (tied with Corpus Christi, Texas, and Victoria Junior College of Singapore). This morning they piled back into a borrowed RV for the return trip to Wisconsin.

2008 Destination Imagination® Global Finals
Hit or Myth, Secondary Level
Top 25 (total of 52 schools competing)
1, Conroe (Texas) Academy of Science. 2, Miamisburg (Ohio) HS. 3, Oxford Hills (Maine) Comprehensive HS. 4, Plano (Texas) ISD. 5, St. Francis (Minn.) HS. 6t, Clarence School (N.Y.); Brimfield (Mass.) Monson HS. 7, Lynnfield (Mass.) HS. 8, Fairfield (Iowa) Maharishi School Gold. 9, Cordova (Tenn.) Hutchison School. 10, Concord (N.H.) HS. 11, Ravenna (Mich.) HS. 12, Ferndale (Mich.) Southfield Christian. 13, Central at Raymond (Neb.) 14, Bourbon (Ind.) Triton HS. 15, Humboldt (Tenn.) Milan HS. 16, New Richmond (Wis.) HS. 17, Woodridge (Ill.) Willowbrook. 18t, Yorktown Heights (N.Y.) HS; Penrose (Colo.) Florence HS. 19, Rockville (Md.) Richard Montgomery. 20t, Alliance (Ohio) Marlington Schools; Middleton (Wis.) HS. 21t, Carl Junction (Mo.) HS; Norco (Calif.) HS. 22, Auburn (N.H.) Pinkerton Academy. 23, Germantown (Wis.) HS. 24, Norton Shore (Mich.) Mona Shores School. 25, Vashon (Wash.) Annie Wright School.