Great Mills High- DI Globals Trip!
Our Destination Imagination (DI) team, 6th DI-Mension, is made up of six 9th and 10th grade girls from Great Mills High School.
We recently competed at the Maryland Destination Imagination State Tournament, and after placing first in the science challenge at both Regionals and States, learned that we qualified to go to Global Finals in Kansas City, Missouri!
In DI, teams choose to compete in one of six different categories, each having its own challenge. Participants must come up with innovative and creative solutions while working together as a team. Destination Imagination has taught us all a lot about problem-solving, teamwork, critical thinking, and not being afraid to "think outside of the box". Through DI, we have also developed excellent leadership and communication skills. Another important part of DI is that all the ideas and props must come directly from our team, so all the ideas that are in our performance are ones that we came up with and put into action.
This year, we chose to do the Scientific Challenge. We are a team of high school girls who have been learning about science. For our challenge, we have to present a story about how a medical condition affects a human character. Our presentation has to include a Sympt-O-Matic, or part of the anatomy of the human character that uses technical methods to portray at least one symptom on the human character’s anatomy. Additionally, we must present part of our presentation from two perspectives at the same time, and create two Team Choice Elements that show off our team’s unique skills and interests. Lastly, this all had to be put into an 8-minute performance.
Our story is about a teenage girl who reads aloud her journal entries, tracking her struggle in dealing with depression. The purpose of this story is to help erase the negative views and stigmas towards depression and other mental illnesses, by showing how depression is common, can happen to anybody and is not just a “bad mood”, but a physical change in a person’s brain. We have a giant papier-mâché brain that highlights the amygdala and hippocampus, using electricity and levers to turn on and off lights. We also include hand made masks that display emotions that the main character wants others to see in order to hide her real feelings and an eight-foot-tall puppet that is a physical representation of Depression. Here is our performance:
More importantly than being state champions, we received another special award at the DI State competition. This award, known as the da Vinci Award, is offered to teams who display exceptional creativity, a unique approach to the challenge, and/or risk-taking. This is Destination Imagination’s most prestigious award and is not given lightly, if at all. We received the da Vinci Award with the following citation:
"This team courageously presented a solution that took great strides towards breaking the stigma surrounding depression. The story was medically accurate while still being emotionally sensitive to those who suffer from depression. The team creatively integrated subtle artistic details that drew the audience into their powerful message. Every aspect of their story was presented with eloquence and poise, leaving the appraisers and audience in awe."
Our team needs to raise a lot of money to go to Global Finals. We estimate the cost to attend Globals will be $13,000, which includes team registration, workshops, food, housing, and transportation to Globals 2019. We have plans to hold events to help raise money, however, we still need monetary support from friends, family, and local businesses. If you are able, any donations are highly appreciated! Please consider donating so we can proudly represent Great Mills High School and show the world what it truly is to be Hornet Strong!
Best way to pay without fees:
ONLINE donation via www.myschoolbucks.com
If you do not already have a MySchoolBucks account for paying other school fees (lunch $$, band/chorus/sports, Jaelynn Willey Scholarship, etc), you will need to create one.
You will select your state (Maryland) and your district (St. Mary’s County Public Schools) when you create your account.
Once you have created or signed in to your account, you will Click on the icon for the GMHS store. Then Click ‘Browse All Items’ and find Destination Imagination Activities listed alphabetically to make your online donation.
