Creativity. Innovation. Teamwork. Skills that you may see on a job resume are what these kids are mastering in an eight-minute performance. Destination Imagination, (DI), is a global non-profit with the mission of creating an environment for kids of all ages to explore science, technology, engineering, arts and math all on their own.
With it being a critical thinking and creative problem-solving competition, every year DI offers six central challenges which each explore different areas of S.T.E.A.M. In all these challenges, team members must create a performance that follows the challenge guidelines, and are scored based on successful completion, teamwork and creativity.
Even though Colorado boasts an impressive number of teams and participants, D.I. reaches far past local and state competitions. Every year, the non-profit impacts over 150,000 students, in 42 states and 28 countries, reaching over 6 continents.
“Last year at Globals we met people from Poland, South Korea, and I still have them on snapchat and talk to them every once in a while,” said a team member from The Discombobulated Dwarves from Fowler, Colorado.
The impact of DI reaches adults as well. Adults can join at any age and sign up to volunteer for an appraiser or general help position during competitions or sign up to be a team manager and rediscover what it means to be a kid. The non-profit takes in over 38,000 volunteers annually, and the organization depends on the energetic and driven volunteers to keep DI running.
“It’s their enthusiasm. It is the best way for kids, I think, to express themselves and it’s outside of the educational parameters but it still involves education,” said fine arts Affiliate Challenge Master, Connie Jones.
Since DI is a non-profit, most of its funding comes from the team entry fees. But the pins and merchandise sold at competitions is the main source of promotion and a large source of profit. With teams that travel to the global competition, pin trading is popular among teams, where they get to see what DI is like in other countries and meet new people from all over the world.
DI means much more to these kids than simply an after-school activity. Teaching children from kindergarten to college age about how to work with a team, how to come up with a solution to a problem without any outside help and how to think creatively is invaluable for when they reach adulthood. Notable DI alum like Daniel Scheinert, Oscar winning director of “Everything, Everywhere, All At Once,” proves that you don’t have to let go of imagination and creativity when you grow up.
