These teens want to represent Southeast Fresno in China: ‘Beat the stigma’

FRESNO, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) – Four high school students from southeast Fresno have qualified to compete in a critical-thinking, problem-solving competition in China. But the problem they need to solve first is how to raise the money to get there.

Meghan Christopherson is the group’s coach. Christopherson says that she competed in Destination Imagination (DI) competitions growing up.

“The person who was running it at the school – the year that I started at the school – was no longer able to do it,” she said. “I was like, ‘Go. Give it to me. I want to be the coach.'”

According to Christopherson, DI incorporates STEM topics and the arts into different categories of challenges:

• Technical
• Engineering
• Fine Arts
• Improv

Christopherson had done the program through Sequoia Middle School with students like Team Captain Bethzayra Torralba.

“I’m glad I did it,” Torralba said. “I had a great time.”

Torralba’s team, the “Krabbie Baddies”, competed in the Fine Arts category in her seventh-grade year. She says the team did not hit their stride until her eighth-grade year, when they did improv.

“DI names are usually silly,” Krabbie Baddies teammate Nathan Castillo said.

“We thought of ourselves as baddies. We weren’t humble,” Torralba said.

Christopherson says the Krabbie Baddies had good reason to be confident.

“For this low-income team, from this part of town to be dominating is amazing,” Christopherson said. “It just speaks to their talent and their hard work.”

Christopherson says the Krabbie Baddies far exceeded expectations at Regionals and State last March in Kansas City, Missouri.

“They took second in the state of California against all these wealthy kids from the Bay Area and Southern California,” Christopherson said. “These kids have every reason not to be successful. But here they are. They’re beating teams that come from money.”

The team placed second at the state finals and earned an invitation to an international DI-affiliated competition in China this December. (The competition is separate from the annual Global Finals held in Missouri.)

At the time of the State and Regional competitions, Christopherson says the after-school program was directly affiliated with the school district, making it possible to compete in Kansas City.

Now that the teens in the Krabbie Baddies all go to different high schools, Christopherson says raising funds to go to China has been a challenge.

“Part of the problem is this is such a short turnaround from when we were invited to when we have to be there,” Christopherson said. “These kids deserve it. This is such an amazing opportunity for our city.”

As a Fresno native, Christopherson says she’s not only proud to give back to the students in the Krabbie Baddies, but she says it would be an honor for her to see southeast Fresno kids represent their community in front of the world.

“They have kind of beat the stigma around southeast Fresno,” Christopherson said. “There are so many kids like them in southeast Fresno.”

The Krabbie Baddies GoFundMe to go to China can be found here. Additionally, 30% of all purchases made at Mintea at N. 783 E Barstow Ave will also go towards the Krabbie Baddies’ cause on Saturday, Nov. 1.