Update: Thanks to all who donated to our cause. Our team placed 6th at the Destination Imagination (DI) Global Finals 2025 in the Fine Arts Middle School Level Category, competing against 40 teams from other US States and countries like Turkey, China, Cayman Islands, Australia, and Mexico. GF25 was in Kansas City from May 22nd to May 25th.

Link to their performance at Global Finals

Here's a link to their performance at state.

This was an incredible educational opportunity for the team and we appreciate all the help we received to offset the cost (registration is $5500 and doesn't include transportation nor lodging).

This team deserves to be celebrated for their outstanding creativity and perseverance in the face of repeated failures. They were very proud to represent the state of Colorado at DI Global Finals.

Team Name: That's A Cool Name

School: Cimarron Middle School, Parker CO

Members: Elizabeth, Sophia, Grace, Emma, & Ave

https://www.destinationimagination.org/

https://globalfinals.org/

These girls have overcome major setbacks to make it this far. Despite having significant portions of their solution fail at our DI South Metro Regional Tournament, the appraisers were blown away by their core solution. Despite finishing last, these girls won the DaVinci Award and a wildcard spot at our DI CO State Tournament. The DaVinci Award “is given to a team for having a unique approach to a solution, for risk taking, and/or for outstanding creativity.” Here’s the note from the Appraisers:

“The incredibly engineered shrinking box that captured the audience by slowly collapsing until the character disappeared with an audible gasp. The technical method to make this happen was totally new and unexpected.”

Video Link to Coach In Tears of Joy .

They also persevered through disappointments at our DI CO State Tournament, pushing through a dismal performance on the Instant Challenge and equipment failures during their Team Challenge. Despite scoring last on the Instant Challenge, their Team Challenge presentation scored highest earning the team a 2nd place spot at DICO State and a spot at Global Finals. They also won another DaVinci Award for outstanding creativity and risk taking.

Here's what the appraisers had to say at the DICO State Tournament:

"...With visual and technical metaphors of rejection and despair the team's illusion left us speechless, all without any words. The artistic interpretation and representation of the emotional moment was unique and moving. The team took a risk with a nonverbal presentation that conveyed the ever-worsening emotional state of being left out or rejected. The technical design that incorporated both an illusion and emotional change over time was both creative and innovative. Connecting the tangram shapes, the shrinking box, and the minimalist colors the emotional moment left us all speechless."

Link to DI CO State Tournament Scores

In case you don’t know about DI, it is an educational nonprofit organization. DI’s flagship program is a global competition involving creative team problem solving, preparing children for a future that is rapidly evolving. This project-based learning experience applies the innovation process across seven different STEAM-based Challenge Categories. Each year, more than 150,000 students across the U.S. and in 30 countries work on their solutions and compete in regional tournaments, culminating in Global Finals.

This year, the team chose the Fine Arts Category, which required the team to create and present a performance about how something small or simple can create a big impact. The performance must include an emotional moment that is enhanced by a special effect. The team also had to design and build a minimalist set, including the strategic use of color and shapes. For their open-ended team choice elements, the team composed their own music and video to compliment the performance.

Their performance involved characters represented by different shapes. The focal character was a new shape to the group and was colored differently. The focal character experiences small acts of rejection from her peers, each leaving her feeling that her safe space was shrinking, symbolized by a set that shrinks. The final act of rejection involves all the other characters combining their shapes to make a square but leaving no space for the focal character. The resulting despair was symbolized by her complete disappearance (their special effect involving the complete collapse of the box). After her disappearance, the other characters realize that if they rearrange their shapes, they could have easily accommodated the new shape. Adding to the impact, the whole performance was done without words, with only one phrase spoken at the end of the skit (the other characters expressing their remorse).

Here's a link to their performance at state.

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