Destination ImagiNation is a community-based, non-profit, volunteer-driven educational organization that teaches young people from kindergarten through university-level the critical and creative thinking skills
needed for success in the 21st Century. DI inspires participants in all of its programs to learn the process, art and skills associated with creative problem-solving and teamwork.
The world's largest creativity and problem-solving competition works with more than 250,000 children and young adults in the US and more than 40 countries each season.
Destination ImagiNation helps students develop a unique and critical skill set by emphasizing:
- Creativity
- Knowledge Application
- Problem Solving
- Collaboration
- Teamwork
- Generating & Focusing Tools
- Presentation Skills
- Project Management
- Confidence
- Time Management
- Research Skills
- Creative & Critical Thinking Skills
- Improvisational Skills
- Budgeting Skills
More information can be found at the DI website www.idodi.org
DI at Blessed Sacrament
Nine teams of grade 5-8 students participated in the Destination ImagiNation® Ontario Tournament held on Saturday, March 26th, 2011; seven teams won and six teams (35 students) advanced to the Global Finals in Knoxville, Tennessee on May 25-28, 2011.
In an effort to offset the cost of participating in the DI program and traveling to the International competition in Knoxville, Tennessee, year-found fundraising efforts are taking place:
- Mabel's Labels Fundraiser
To tackle the problem of lost belongings, Mabel's Labels offers personalized Iron-Ons, Stickies, Bag Tags, Allergy Alert labels, stationery products, ID wristbands and household labels that are dishwasher, microwave and laundry safe. Labels are customized with a child's name, favourite mix of colours and an icon (animal, symbol, etc.) and ship within 24 hours. A portion of every sale through our specialized website at www.bsces.mabel.ca will help support DI.
- Nut Free Gourmet Cookie Dough
A Cookie Dough Fundraiser will take place for two weeks starting Monday, November 14th; please turn in your order form by noon on Thursday November 24th. Nut-free, all-butter cookie doughs are packaged in 1.5 litre pails and are available in 5 flavours (Chocolate Chip, Oatmeal Raisin, Oatmeal Chocolate Chew, Chocolate Fudge Chip and Shortbread). Each pail is $14 and makes between 7 to 10 dozen cookies.
Follow these simple steps to take advantage of this offer:
- Download and print the order form.
- Total up your orders and attach a cheque made payable to Blessed Sacrament School DI
- Return the completed form to your teacher by Noon Thursday November 14th, 2011.
- Pick up your cookie dough on Monday December 5th in the main foyer between 2pm to 5pm.
The Destination ImagiNation Program
The Destination ImagiNation Program is a process-based program grounded in sound creative problem solving theory that helps young people
build lifelong skills in creative and critical thinking, teamwork, time management and problem solving.
Team Challenge: Each season, teams of up to seven members select one of five competitive Challenges. With the guidance of a Team Manager (who serves as a facilitator, not a coach), the team creates an action plan and works together to create everything needed for their Presentation. This team works together for weeks to create their solution to a Team Challenge, which can have a focus that is theatrical, structural, improvisational,
scientific or technical.
All Team Challenges (except for the yearly Improvisational Challenge) can be broken down into two parts: the Central Challenge and Side Trips.
Central Challenge: All DI Challenges have different required elements that teams must include as part of their solutions; these requirements comprise the Central Challenge.
Side Trips: To provide teams with the opportunity to bring their special interests out in the open, we ask them to create two Side Trips. These are additional elements that can be incorporated into the Presentation for scoring. Side Trips allow teams to showcase their own unique interests and abilities.
Instant Challenge: Teams also learn and practice creative quick-thinking skills for the Instant Challenge portion of the program. DI teams learn to solve Instant Challenges in a very short time frame – usually two to five minutes. The Challenges are kept confidential until the day of the Tournament, when teams have the opportunity to showcase their problem-solving expertise.
The DI equation is:
Team Challenge (Central Challenge + Side Trips) + Instant Challenge =
Destination ImagiNation.
Destination ImagiNation helps young people learn in a fun and supportive environment and the valuable skills they've acquired will be with them for a lifetime.
