La Merced Intermediate School Science Team A creative and
talented team of eighth graders from Montebello Unified School
District’s La Merced Intermediate School are matching their
knowledge of physics against teams from 30 countries at a multi-
disciplinary, problem-solving competition at the University of
Tennessee. As if erecting a wooden structure weighing less than
50 grams that can hold a significant amount of weight while golf
balls are fed into it isn’t challenging enough, La Merced’s
“Limitless Freedom” team also had to create a clever skit to
accompany the project. Destination Imagination’s Global Finals
‘12 is a complex challenge staged by the nonprofit, educational,
after school program that runs through Saturday in Knoxville,
Tenn. The annual event where students from kindergarten through
college work as teams to solve open-ended challenges will be
attended by more than 8,000 students who make up the 1,200
competing teams. La Merced’s team of 14 & 13 year-olds, are
representing California after ha