The Challenges:

The Destination Imagination program is a fun, hands-on system of learning that fosters students’ creativity, courage and curiosity through open-ended academic Challenges in the fields of STEM - science, technology, engineering and mathematics - fine arts, and service learning. Participants learn patience, flexibility, persistence, ethics, respect for others and their ideas, and the collaborative problem-solving process. Students use the creative process to turn their ideas into reality and learn invaluable skills:

· Creative & Critical Thinking

· Team Building

· Problem Solving

· Risk Taking

· Project Management

· Perseverance

· Self-confidence

“If every student had opportunities such as these made possible through DI, our children would undoubtedly be future-ready!”

Helen Soule, Partnership for 21st Century Learning

Destination Imagination is an educational program where student teams solve open-ended challenges and present their solutions at tournaments. Teams in Destination Imagination learn higher-order thinking and improve in creative thinking, critical thinking and collaborative problem solving. Participants learn and experience the creative process, develop new friendships, and learn to work together.

There are six new Challenges to choose from each year. Each of the Challenges is developed by a team of educators and industry experts who target a particular area of the curriculum and its related standards of content and performance. The areas of focus include Technical, Scientific, Engineering, Fine Arts, Improvisational, and Service Learning. There is also a non-competitive Early Learning Challenge that allows our youngest team members to begin to develop their social and problem-solving skills.

Researchers from the University of Virginia’s Curry School of Education conducted an independent research evaluation of the DI program. Among other findings, the researchers reported, “Students who participated in the activities and tournaments provided by DI outperformed comparable students who had not participated in DI on assessments measuring creative thinking, critical thinking, and collaborative problem solving.

Visit DestinationImagination.org to watch participant testimonials and educator interviews.