Destination Imagination
GRADES 3-5 ONLY!
Leander ISD Destination Imagination site.
Destination Imagination Information Slideshow
Does your 3rd-5th grade child like to build, design, invent, create, perform, and work with a team to solve challenges? If so, he or she might be interested in participating in Destination Imagination (DI). Leander ISD is happy to be able to once again sponsor Destination Imagination (DI) teams for grades 3-12. The district will pay the teams' registration fees to participate in the in-person Heart of Texas Regional meet. Destination Imagination (DI) is an extracurricular program that fosters creativity, team-based problem-solving skills and life skills for students. Leander ISD Destination Imagination is open to all students in third through twelfth grades.
Please keep in mind that each team must have 1–2 parents sign up as team manager(s)/co-manager, and each team must also have two volunteer appraisers in order to compete.
Registration forms can be found here.
All registration forms are due on or before Oct. 1. *Ms. Minardi will need to communicate team numbers, team managers, and team appraisers to our district D.I. rep before the end of the school day on October 1.
Watch this video to see what Destination Imagination is all about:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjZzy_uQ6bI&feature=youtu.be
What is Destination Imagination?
Destination Imagination is not really a program, it’s a process. Team members engage in creative problem solving and teamwork all year long, individually and together, with DI Challenges. Participants develop life-long skills that carry over into everyday life – but most of all, they have fun, discover talents they never knew they had, become friends with kids they might not have ever met, and reap the rewards of teamwork and friendship as they grow and learn.
How much time does DI take? Students need to commit to an hour or two per week for team meetings. Exactly how long, where and when is up to each individual team.
Even though the students have to solve the problem, DI teams need adult volunteers to help with instant challenges, snacks, shuttling kids around, teaching skills the children want to learn, and most of all for team managers and appraisers. The more adults who commit to helping out, the less time intensive it is for everyone, and the more fun DI is for the kids.
Creative Problem Solving Program
What is Destination ImagiNation? Destination ImagiNation is an extracurricular, school- sponsored program that fosters creativity and team-based problem-solving skills and life skills for students. Leander ISD DI is open to all students in third through twelfth grades. The goal of Destination ImagiNation is to cultivate the creative problem solving process and make it an unconscious part of students’ everyday lives.
Teams showcase their solutions at a DI Regional Tournament and may advance to state and international competitions later in the spring. Teams participate in both the Team Challenge and Instant Challenge portions of the competition. The “Team Challenge” solution is developed by the team over a 5-7 month period. The team designs and creates, without adult assistance, all props, costumes and other artistic technical elements necessary to bring the presentation to life. But the team's solution is not complete until they receive the final improv prop from the judges just before their presentation!
Instant Challenges are designed to teach students how to think quickly, creatively and strategically. At competition the team is given an Instant Challenge they have not seen before. For example, a team may be asked to tell the judge about a mouse’s happiest day, create a team story using a given set of items, manipulate materials to build a structure, or develop a non- verbal communication system with team members to complete a given task. Team members have a few minutes to think and develop strategy and a brief period of time to respond to the challenge. Both the Team Challenges and Instant Challenges provide and promote opportunities to develop life-long skills that are essential in our ever-changing world.
What does it take to form a team? A maximum of seven students is placed on a team. One to two parent volunteers are also necessary to be the Team Managers. The Team Manager helps the students stay on schedule and gather materials and also guides them through the problem-solving process. Time outside of school is about two hours each week, gradually increasing as competition time approaches.
What is required of a Destination ImagiNation parent? Parents must make every effort to have the student at every practice or work session. Parents must not contribute ideas or help prepare any part of the solution, but are expected to contribute time to the program. There are many ways to make your contribution. In addition to team managers, we need appraisers (see the registration form for details.) Appraisers are the officials who provide scores and feedback at a tournament. Appraisers typically commit to one day of training and one day at a tournament. In many cases, Appraisers volunteer to represent a specific school, organization, or team at their local tournament. In addition to team managers(s), each team also needs two parent volunteers to serve as appraisers.
Parent volunteers make this program possible.
Is there Team Manager training available? Yes, absolutely! Consider volunteering as a Team Manager, it’s a great way to get your creative juices flowing! Training resources include the Team Manager’s manual, regular Team Manager training sessions, workshops and helpful, experienced school coordinators who can guide you through the entire Destination ImagiNation program! No special skills are required to be a Team Manager other than your willingness to work with a great, creative group of kids! Each year, sadly, we have kids who want to participate but can’t because we need Team Managers. Please consider taking this on or sharing it with someone you enjoy working with.
Every attempt will be made to place each student who registers on a team. However, the number of adults who are willing to be Team Managers limits us, so please think about volunteering.