Us is the team name for those at Edison Junior High is making a return after participating last year, competing in the technical challenge. Its members, above, include, from left, front, seventh-graders Olivia Ferguson and Beckett Dopp; and back, Nathan Myers, Daleanee Devore and Lindsey Howell. Connor Richardson is also a part of the team. -- Contributed

The Edison Junior High School’s team, Us, is making a return to the international event. A new team known as the Baconators are from John Gregg Elementary School. Both groups gained first-place honors in their respective challenges of technical and fine arts at the Ohio D.I. competition, held April 6 at East Lakota High School in Butler County.

The event is an educational program where teams work to solve open-ended challenges and present a solution. Participants gain knowledge and experience in areas such as creative and critical thinking, project management, team building, conflict resolution, STEM and perseverance.

The global finals will take place May 21-26. Around 1,400 teams from around the world will vie for that title. A series of fundraisers are underway, including a joint spaghetti dinner at the Richmond United Methodist Church from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday. Dinners are dine in or carryout and by donation only. Other activities to help fund the trip include, soliciting local businesses for donations, a Junior Beta Club fundraiser and holding penny wars, a tag day and selling slushies.

Members of Us are eager to have another chance at a win following a 20th-place tie last year from a total of 41 teams. The team, coached by Amanda Richardson, includes seventh-graders Connor Richardson, Beckett Dopp, Nathan Myers, Daleanee Devore, Lindsey Howell and Olivia Ferguson. In March, the team earned a Renaissance Award for outstanding design, performance and engineering at the Southeast Regional Tournament. They also received the DaVinci Award for creativity during the regional competition in 2022.

The Baconators include fourth- and fifth-graders from John Gregg Elementary. This will be their first appearance, competing in the fine arts category. Members include from left, front, Reagan Ingram and Cadence Bendle; and back, Lakynn Howell, Adrianna Miller, Carson Ensinger and Landon Ankrom. -- Contributed

Their latest technical challenge project, “Pinball Heroes,” incorporates a pinball system. It earned them a win out of six total teams in their category at the state event. The group met regularly to construct their design and ensure it functioned properly for the contest.

“This is the second time we’re going to the global finals,” said Dopp. “This year we’re going to try to place first, second or third. We’re really excited.”

“We’ll definitely try to be in the Top 10,” added Howell. “We were looking for something more creative to implement into our skit.”

“Last year we had a bunch of amazing sponsors who donated,” said Devore. “We are having a spaghetti dinner fundraiser because Edison has two teams going and need so much money to go. We’re excited to have two teams going. I feel like it gives Edison a good perspective because all of the D.I. teams really worked hard.”

Members noted the memorable part of attending the global competition was meeting other teams and taking part in the Kansas City Quest, a city-wide scavenger hunt. They added their overall experience has built interest in the program and honed their abilities in making life decisions and having patience and creativity.

“This has made us grow so much as a team,” Devore added.

The Baconators, led by coach Amber Weaver, includes members Lakynn Howell, Adrianna Miller, Carson Ensinger, Cadence Bendle, Reagan Ingram and Landon Ankrom. It is the first time the fourth- and fifth-graders have participated in D.I. The team was ecstatic after facing 10 other teams at the state competition.

“I’m so excited for them,” Weaver said. “They really deserve it since they’ve never done this before. They are excited. They made me cry because they worked so well together as a team.”

Their team challenge was “Fine Arts in Motion,” a skit involving a moveable piece. Howell said the group crafted a story about how the Sphinx in Egypt lost its nose and created a cardboard rendering of the structure with a detachable sniffer. That same project will be used in Kansas City while the group will complete an instant challenge. Members got together at least twice a week to prepare and learned many things by participating in the contests.

“The best part is I feel like it brought us closer together,” said Bendle. “There were no other emotions but happiness. I was happy crying when we won.”

“We’ve done this and now we’re really good friends,” Ingram commented.

Other members said it has built teamwork and a caring for one another. They learned about Egypt while preparing their project. Ankrom noted he was surprised by the win and excited to move on to the finals.

“I’m excited about seeing people from all around the world,” added Ensinger.

Edison hosted the regional competition at Edison High School March 9, drawing about 400 people and 25 teams from St. Clairsville to Leetonia. Ten Edison teams took part, with four advancing to state, including Us and the Baconators, along with the Worcestershire Saucers from John Gregg, who took first place in the middle-school scientific challenge, and the Dynamic Duo of Edison Junior High School, which won in the middle-school engineering category.

Additionally, the Goofy Goobers from John Gregg placed second in the engineering challenge with Stanton Elementary School’s Crazy Cats earning third in the scientific challenge.

Two non-competitive teams from John Gregg known as the Underwater Five and Sea Dragons took part in the Rising Star category. The Creative Cats were honored with an award for innovative ideas in the instant challenge.