BCMS DI Team-Going to Globals
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After achieving honors for creativity, teamwork and innovation in regional and state academic tournaments, a local team of five 7th grade girls from Buffalo Community Middle School have earned the right to compete in Destination Imagination's Global Finals Tournament, the world’s largest celebration of student creativity, to be held May 25-28 in Knoxville, Tennessee. Team members include Madelyn Hackett, Gretta Heinecke, Meagan Henry, Jillian Elton, and Kylee Larson. The team chose their creative name, which is " " (quotation marks).
Team " " is among more than 8,000 students representing more than 1,400 teams from countries worldwide that have advanced to Global Finals, which will be held at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.
They will compete with other teams in the Fine Arts: Get a Clue Challenge, one of seven, open-ended challenges that require students to apply science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) skills, in addition to their talents in improvisation, theater arts, writing, project management, communication, innovation, teamwork, community service and social entrepreneurship. The Fine Arts Challenge consisted of the team putting together a 6-8 minute performance, which must meet a multitude of criterion as defined by the DI challenge, all to be scored at tournaments. Their story had to take place before 1990, include three suspect characters, and a techniclue that helped solved the mystery. For their techniclue, the team chose to create a code from scratch that was incorporated into their plot. They also created a “problem solver” box in which two electrical circuits (including a small motor, batteries, PVC pipe, switches, and lightbulbs from a broken string of lights) create a prop that solves the mystery. During each presentation, the team learned the character "who did it" live on stage, which required 3 alternate endings to their plot. The team was also required to use traverse staging (audience is on two sides of the stage) during their performance, which impacted their prop design and stage acting. This team chose the 1860's, and after researching this time period, they created the plot, costumes, and props all to reflect this time period accurately.
In DI, students use their own ideas and cannot use other people's ideas outside of the team (interference). There is a challenge budget; all money spent on props, costumes, and anything used during their performance must not exceed budget. They also build everything themselves with no outside help. They can be taught the skill, but must build and create everything on their own with no outside help. For example, the team created a unique, antique covered wagon. They went to a woodworker's shop (parent of one of the members) to learn how to build the base of the covered wagon, how to cut wood using saws, and how to make the wood look old. They then learned and applied sewing skills to make the fabric for the covered wagon, and even though to dye the white sheets using tea, to make it look aged. The team came up with the idea to shadow act within the covered wagon casting shadows out both sides to help with their traverse staging scoring aspects..
In addition to this main central challenge, the team also competes in an “Instant Challenge”, where, without preparation, they are presented a task to either create a structure using specific limited materials, create a spontaneous performance, or a combination of both, all meeting specific point requirements. Commonly, Instant Challenges allow for a mere two to four minutes of preparation before the team must present its solution.
“Destination Imagination is a lot of fun for these kids, but also challenges them, and teaches real world skills. It’s amazing to see the creative innovation, collaboration, and problem solving solutions that these 7th grade kids create,” said team co-manager Suzanne Heinecke.
"We are so proud of this team and so happy their hard work has paid off with this opportunity to go to Global Finals. Each of these girls have brought their own unique skills to the table, and they have done so well working together. We have a mix of girls that have been in Destination Imagination for a few years, who have used their experience to help guide the team, and a couple girls in their first year in DI, who jumped right in and brought some fresh ideas and skills to the group. These are some really talented kids,” said team co-manager Dan Heinecke.
“The Destination Imagination program is a fun, hands-on system of learning that fosters students’ creativity, courage and curiosity,” said Chuck Cadle, CEO of Destination Imagination. “Quantitative reasoning, collaborative problem solving, risk taking, collaboration, presentations and thinking on your feet are some of the important skills learned in the program.”
Destination Imagination is a leader in project-based learning opportunities that blend STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) education with the arts and social entrepreneurship. Its academic challenges are designed to teach kids how to think, not what to think, and then present their solutions at regional and state tournaments.
Each year, DI competitions begin with a regional tournament, where team solutions are assessed by a panel of trained appraisers, ranging from educators to artists to engineers. Each team solution is scored on a variety of elements, including originality, workmanship, presentation and teamwork. Teams with the highest scores advance to the Affiliate Minnesota tournaments. The top-tiered teams from the Affiliate tournaments advance to Global Finals.
Destination Imagination has had a positive impact on more than 1.5 million students who have taken part in its acclaimed Challenge program. This year, 150,000 students have participated in tournaments throughout the U.S. and 30 countries in hopes of earning a spot at the Global Finals competition in May.
Destination Imagination, Inc. dedicates itself to enriching the global community by providing opportunities for learners of all ages to explore and discover using the creative process from imagination to innovation.
For more information about Global Finals, visit http://globalfinals.org/
Team " " is among more than 8,000 students representing more than 1,400 teams from countries worldwide that have advanced to Global Finals, which will be held at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.
They will compete with other teams in the Fine Arts: Get a Clue Challenge, one of seven, open-ended challenges that require students to apply science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) skills, in addition to their talents in improvisation, theater arts, writing, project management, communication, innovation, teamwork, community service and social entrepreneurship. The Fine Arts Challenge consisted of the team putting together a 6-8 minute performance, which must meet a multitude of criterion as defined by the DI challenge, all to be scored at tournaments. Their story had to take place before 1990, include three suspect characters, and a techniclue that helped solved the mystery. For their techniclue, the team chose to create a code from scratch that was incorporated into their plot. They also created a “problem solver” box in which two electrical circuits (including a small motor, batteries, PVC pipe, switches, and lightbulbs from a broken string of lights) create a prop that solves the mystery. During each presentation, the team learned the character "who did it" live on stage, which required 3 alternate endings to their plot. The team was also required to use traverse staging (audience is on two sides of the stage) during their performance, which impacted their prop design and stage acting. This team chose the 1860's, and after researching this time period, they created the plot, costumes, and props all to reflect this time period accurately.
In DI, students use their own ideas and cannot use other people's ideas outside of the team (interference). There is a challenge budget; all money spent on props, costumes, and anything used during their performance must not exceed budget. They also build everything themselves with no outside help. They can be taught the skill, but must build and create everything on their own with no outside help. For example, the team created a unique, antique covered wagon. They went to a woodworker's shop (parent of one of the members) to learn how to build the base of the covered wagon, how to cut wood using saws, and how to make the wood look old. They then learned and applied sewing skills to make the fabric for the covered wagon, and even though to dye the white sheets using tea, to make it look aged. The team came up with the idea to shadow act within the covered wagon casting shadows out both sides to help with their traverse staging scoring aspects..
In addition to this main central challenge, the team also competes in an “Instant Challenge”, where, without preparation, they are presented a task to either create a structure using specific limited materials, create a spontaneous performance, or a combination of both, all meeting specific point requirements. Commonly, Instant Challenges allow for a mere two to four minutes of preparation before the team must present its solution.
“Destination Imagination is a lot of fun for these kids, but also challenges them, and teaches real world skills. It’s amazing to see the creative innovation, collaboration, and problem solving solutions that these 7th grade kids create,” said team co-manager Suzanne Heinecke.
"We are so proud of this team and so happy their hard work has paid off with this opportunity to go to Global Finals. Each of these girls have brought their own unique skills to the table, and they have done so well working together. We have a mix of girls that have been in Destination Imagination for a few years, who have used their experience to help guide the team, and a couple girls in their first year in DI, who jumped right in and brought some fresh ideas and skills to the group. These are some really talented kids,” said team co-manager Dan Heinecke.
“The Destination Imagination program is a fun, hands-on system of learning that fosters students’ creativity, courage and curiosity,” said Chuck Cadle, CEO of Destination Imagination. “Quantitative reasoning, collaborative problem solving, risk taking, collaboration, presentations and thinking on your feet are some of the important skills learned in the program.”
Destination Imagination is a leader in project-based learning opportunities that blend STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) education with the arts and social entrepreneurship. Its academic challenges are designed to teach kids how to think, not what to think, and then present their solutions at regional and state tournaments.
Each year, DI competitions begin with a regional tournament, where team solutions are assessed by a panel of trained appraisers, ranging from educators to artists to engineers. Each team solution is scored on a variety of elements, including originality, workmanship, presentation and teamwork. Teams with the highest scores advance to the Affiliate Minnesota tournaments. The top-tiered teams from the Affiliate tournaments advance to Global Finals.
Destination Imagination has had a positive impact on more than 1.5 million students who have taken part in its acclaimed Challenge program. This year, 150,000 students have participated in tournaments throughout the U.S. and 30 countries in hopes of earning a spot at the Global Finals competition in May.
Destination Imagination, Inc. dedicates itself to enriching the global community by providing opportunities for learners of all ages to explore and discover using the creative process from imagination to innovation.
For more information about Global Finals, visit http://globalfinals.org/
Organizer
Keri Hackett
Organizer
Hanover, MN
