Help the MasterMinds get to Globals

Dear Friends and Family,

We're so excited to share that we have earned the opportunity to compete at the Destination Imagination (DI) Global Finals  in Knoxville, next month.  We've worked really hard to get here and we've created this GoFundMe page to request your help to get to Globals.  It's a huge honor to have the opportunity to participate with DI teams from all over the world and... it's expensive.  The week-long tournament costs about $1000/team member which includes registration fees, travel expenses, housing and food.  There are 7 of us, so we're hoping to raise enough money to cover our expenses.  Some of our parents will be coming too but don't worry, they're paying their own way!  We'd really appreciate your donation to help us raise the money we need to get to Globals and we are excited about the opportunity of representing Maryland, Anne Arundel County and our school, Millersville Elementary. 

Check out this video we made for you showing some highlights from our DI season:


Here's the story of our DI journey:

Starting in November, our team, the Millersville Masterminds, began working on our DI project.  Our team includes Mila, Peyton, Evelyn, Mary, Jackson, Anna and Eben.   First, we chose our challenge "Maze Craze", which is the DI Technical challenge where you have to build a maze traveler that must navigate a random maze and can remove an object from the maze.  We also had to build a prop that transforms.  All of these things have to occur using technical methods, so first we learned about electrical circuits, robotics, chemical reactions and magnetism and then we used what we learned to create our solution.  We built a "time machine" using spare parts from an RC car, a dinosaur that's balloon tail grows as it's filled with gas from a chemical reaction, a volcano that erupts with confetti propelled by an electric fan and wild costumes for our futuristic scientists.


We also had to create a story about the Maze Traveler's journey through the maze and incorporate the story into our presentation.  Finally, we practiced lots of instant challenges (ICs) which are really fun and really intense.  ICs are about solving problems quickly as a team.  At the tournament you go into a secret room and are given a building or performance challenge and you only have five minutes to complete the challenge.  We met twice a week for about two-hours and including all of our homework spent more than 1000 hours on our project! We're not complaining because our hard work paid off. 

First, we competed at the DI regional tournament in March where we earned 2nd place and advanced to States.  Then, last week, we competed at the State tournament against 17 of the best teams in Maryland.  It was a long day and the competition was tough so we were really nervous.  Then, they called our name at the award ceremony and we realized we earned a chance to compete at Globals! It was so exciting!


It's a huge honor and none of us have ever been to Globals.  It's supposed to be an amazing experience with thousands of teams competing from 15 countries from all over the world.   Here is a link to a video from the Global Finals website if you want to learn more about it.  NASA and other science and technology organizations will be there exhibiting and there are a ton of activities to learn about science and technology and lots of opportunities to make new friends. 

I hope you enjoyed hearing about our DI season and thank you for your support.  We really appreciate any donation you can afford which will help us participate in this incredible experience. The registration deadline is May 1st, so please make your donation by April 30th.

Thanks again,

The Millersville Masterminds
Mila, Peyton, Evelyn, Mary, Jackson, Anna and Eben

About Destination Imagination

Destination Imagination is a non-profit organization for kids that's all about creative problem solving and teamwork.  Visit this link to learn more: Destination Imagination Website