Talawana High School team, 3rd Place Global Finals
Team managers: Jessica Greene and Bill Greene
Challenge Area: Technical Challenge Theme: Piece by Piece
Team Members:
Damon Bryd
Anthony Greene
Charles Murray
Andrew Rothschild-Averbach
Emily Shoker
Isabelle Schroer
Kelsey Wortman
Destination Imagination is a youth program that builds Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics (STEAM) skill sets. Teams compete in one of six challenge areas:
- Scientific
- Technical
- Engineering
- Fine Arts
- Improve
- Service Learning
Teams compete at the regional, state, and then international level. This year Global Finals was held in Kansas City, Mo., and had teams from across the US and countries such as China, Mexico, Turkey, South Korea, Ukraine, Guatemala, and more.
Their primary challenge area is 75% of their score, and then 25% of their score is an Instant Challenge on the day of the competition, where they have about 5 minutes to solve a challenge they've never seen before.
The Talawanda 12th-grade team competed in the Technological Challenge, and this was their last opportunity to compete in this international competition. This year, Talawanda had 27 children competing across 5 teams. Two of these teams qualified for the Ohio State Tournament, and only one was selected to advance to Global Finals.
In Destination Imagination, youth are placed on a team and given a challenge in their core area. Our team competes in the Technical Challenge and must build a solution and then create a story highlighting their solution and how it works. This year, our students had to build two “puzzle movers” and complete a puzzle with 14 pieces. Our students welded a large frame, attached a motor to haul giant pieces up, and built a small hydraulic system to push these large pieces into position.
This combination of building and technical skills, paired with the artistic representation through a skit and story, challenges youth to develop skills in broad areas. They must become technically adept but creative and innovative in order to win.
Team Manager, Bill Greene, has been leading DI teams for over 35 years. He loves introducing kids to tools and techniques for the first time: drills, saws, soldering irons, etc. Youth also learn skills such as painting, acting, and practicing creativity in addition to learning technical skills.
