Destination Imagination In Nine Mile Falls

If you have not heard of Destination Imagination (DI) please read on as it is an amazing program for our local students. Joy Murphy, a Kindergarten teacher at Lake Spokane Elementary, outlines the Nine Mile Falls participation in the program. 

"Destination Imagination is a program for the creatively gifted student. The Nine Mile Falls School District has had teams involved in D.I. for the last 7 years. My daughter Katherine was on one of the first teams that our district supported. It was a team of 6th and 7th grades from Lakeside middle school. The team took second place at regionals and went on to the state tournament in Wenatchee. 

It is an amazing program that encourages students to believe in themselves, think on their feet, take risks, and tackle challenges all while incorporating STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) as well as the arts or service learning projects. While coaching several teams I am always amazed at how 7 kids, often from different classrooms can come together and grow. They learn patience, persistence, flexibility, ethics and respect for others along the way. 

Each year the DI program has six central challenges that a team can choose from; a technical, a scientific, a structural, a fine arts, an improvisational, and a service learning challenge. These team challenges are very involved and take several weeks to prepare for. Then there is an instant challenge while at the tournament. A team walks in the door and they never know what the challenge will be. It might be to build a tower in 3 minutes out of 21 pieces of paper as a team without talking. Tallest tower gets points. It might be to do a skit in which they get 4 minutes to prepare a skit in which one of the team members is disguised and create the disguise out of 4 pipe cleaners, 2 pieces of newspaper,  4 pieces of heavy paper, 6 mailing labels and 2 pieces of foil. They are given a box of markers and told to begin. They then create their disguise and then perform a two minute skit. No time to be shy, no time to second guess, they just jump in and do. I love how they come together and get the job done! The team receives points for revealing why a person is disguised, the creativity of the disguise, points for the creativity of the performance and more points for how well the team worked together.  As a coach, I can teach my team members how to use a sewing machine but I cannot touch their team costumes for their central challenge. If the team needs cardboard for a large back drop then they are the ones to look up phone numbers and ask at Home Depot. I can teach them how to use a glue gun or saw but I cannot cut lumber for them or touch their props. The teams are quite ingenious and duct tape is an absolute must! I've seen entire costumes held together with duct tape and staples. When teams showcase their solutions at the regional tournament level, the heartfelt pride in accomplishing something on their own it is truly amazing. That is the reason that we keep it going. From coach to district coordinator we are all behind our kids 100 percent."
We love DI! 
District coordinator NMFSDJoy Murphy

More about Destination Imagination. 

Vision

To be the global leader in teaching the creative process from imagination to innovation. (Click here to learn more about the creative process.)

Mission

To develop opportunities that inspire the global community of learners to utilize diverse approaches in applying 21st century skills and creativity.

The Destination Imagination program encourages teams of learners to have fun, take risks, focus and frame challenges while incorporating STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics), the arts and service learning. Our participants learn patience, flexibility, persistence, ethics, respect for others and their ideas, and the collaborative problem solving process. Teams may showcase their solutions at a tournament.

History

Destination Imagination (DI) is a non-profit, volunteer-led, cause-driven organization. Our purpose is to inspire and equip students to become the next generation of innovators and leaders.

Our organization was incorporated in 1982, when we took over the charter for OM Association, Inc. In 1999, our name was changed to Destination Imagination, Inc. Since then, our non-profit has impacted more than one million participants. Approximately 200,000 youth make friends and learn the creative process through our programs every year, and 38,000 volunteers support us!

All of our programs are Challenge-based, and they teach the creative process from imagination to innovation. Our goal is to help student teams learn to be creative in every aspect of their lives.

Our Challenge program is our most popular offering. At the start of the season, teams choose one of seven Challenges. After weeks spent creating, developing and practicing their solutions, they go to a local tournament. Top-scoring teams advance to state or country tournaments. The top level of the tournament is our Global Finals—the world’s largest celebration of creativity.

Our programs are developed annually to ensure they are relevant and align to National Education Standards, STEM standards, ELA Common Core Standards and Mathematics Common Core Standards. Every year, with the help of parent volunteers, educators, and subject matter experts, we design new and exciting Challenges for student teams to solve.