Destination Imagination Questions

Destination Imagination is a creativity program that allows students the opportunity to solve open ended team challenges. Each team will pick a challenge that they would like to tackle. The team manager acts only as a meeting facilitator. Each team member takes on a role for the meeting or the entire project. The team must develop a list of ideas, select the best idea, develop a plan, implement the plan, develop a story, usually with some sort of props, and present the story/solution.

Team member must do all of this while also practicing good team work and showing off their unique skills. This is an opportunity for them to really do what they love while building life long skills. 

The Shrewsbury DI program form teams – Rising Stars (grades 1-2), Elementary (grades 3-5), Middle (grades 6-8), High School (9-12)

Teams are formed with up to seven students and two parent volunteer team managers. The exception is Rising Stars teams, they may have more than seven members.  Student Registration Form and the Team Registration Form will be needed to form a team. Existing teams may fill out the team registration form earlier. The team manager must get a background check with Destination Imagination and the school requires a CORI check. The manager will get an email to perform the background check. 

Team managers are parents who volunteer to coordinate and lead team meetings and there are DI manager training sessions. Please fill out the team registration form to be a manager. 

Every team member must be committed to attending the Regional Competition.  This takes place in late Feb/Early March.  Exact date will be out soon.    Throughout the season, the teams will be expected to meet every week.  Time commitment varies per team but typically a two-hour minimum weekly commitment is expected (sometimes less for K-2 teams).  Be aware that most teams opt to step-up their meeting times as the competition approaches.

The DI season runs from September through Spring, though many teams do not start meeting until October/November.  Regional competition takes place in March.  The March day is a full-day commitment for all children. A few teams will move on to advanced competitions in April/May.

The challenges of “Central Challenges” are published in August and fall into one of several categories:

Robotics, Performance, Improvisation, Structural Engineering and/or Science.  Each challenge requires some performance as well as fulfillment of several criteria such as building sets, creating special effects and writing scripts.  The performance is a chance for the team to present their solution to a panel of judges and audience. 

Yes, please see this form. Drop off at the town hall or your school office. 

Yes, here is a resource. 

Yes it does!

https://www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=destination%20imagination%20shrewsbury

Meeting duration recommendation: 

• Rising Stars: 1 hour
• Grades 3 and above: 1.5 - 2 hours

Meeting locations:

Contact: 

Beal - Karin Freeman <kfreeman@shrewsbury.k12.ma.us>

Coolidge - Nicole Turnblom <nturnblom@shrewsbury.k12.ma.us>

Floral - Jennifer Umile <jumile@shrewsbury.k12.ma.us>

Paton - Melinda Lapierre <mlapierre@shrewsbury.k12.ma.us>

Spring - Judith Adair <jadair@shrewsbury.k12.ma.us>

Sherwood - Kristen Ward <krward@shrewsbury.k12.ma.us>

Oak - Debra Maroney <dmaroney@shrewsbury.k12.ma.us>

SHS - Kathy Granados <kgranados@shrewsbury.k12.ma.us>

School cafeterias are great locations because there is a lot of space and easy to use. 

Each individual team will decide what the best meeting time is for them and based on school availability. 

The town coordinator (Rajani Vijayakumar) will register the team. The following information is required:

In general, it works well if each parent can contribute $40 towards the project cost and instant challenge materials. Most challenges have a budget of $150. This would leave extra for supplies that may be used to create items in the presentation, but that do not need to be put on the budget. 

Go to the following website:

http://www.idodi.org/challenge-program/clarifications

I find that telling the team about roles is a good way to help them stay focused.

Meeting leader - has a list of topics that need to be covered that meeting
Time keeper - helps the leader keep on track
Scribe - takes notes of team actions during the meeting (could have more than one)
Appraiser - someone who watches the instant challenge and gives the team feedback on team work and helps to score the points
Materials manager - keeps track of materials for instant challenges and for the project as a whole
Decision maker - when there is gridlock for a decision, this person can help move things along / resolve conflicts
Designer  - someone who will actively create ideas, get the ball rolling for doing a task

Yes, most definitely. High school students have different ways of participating:

1. Start a team. The teams follow the same rules as all the other levels. DI is a great thing to put on your college resume. You build skills in teamwork, leadership, problem solving, creativity, and organization. You can also develop great friendships that will grow through working together. You can also create something you are proud of without anyone else telling you how it should be. 
2. Become a manager. Helping a younger team succeed is a very fulfilling way to spend your time. It will be challenging, but you can certainly be proud when you get to the tournament. The other good thing about it is that being a manager counts for volunteer hours. 

There are also scholarships available for graduating seniors.

Please refer to:

/finops/Facilities-Rental-Information

Also, fill out the Building Use Form

Each team teams one (ideally two) team managers.   Like Scout Masters, team managers host team meetings.  Adults are NOT allowed to generate ideas or help the team solve the challenges in any way.  Instead, the manager acts as a guide, keeping the team on track and moving forward. Team Managers are provided with a detailed guide to use throughout the year, so you don’t have to develop activities on your own.

Team manager time commitment averages about 5 hours a week, including meeting time, prep, and communication, but some managers spend more time. With two managers to a team, however, the work can be split.

Being a team manager is highly rewarding. It’s a chance to work with kids as they get excited about a project and take initiative on their own. Children develop their roles as leaders, rule-minders, builders, and imagineers. You’ll be seeing your child in a very different light and supporting their intellectual growth. Adults who had their parents as team managers when they were children say it’s part of the close bond they feel even today.

Each team needs to provide an adult volunteer who will be an appraiser. This person will attend the tournament and help judge teams during competition (not the team they are volunteering for). It is mandatory that they attend a virtual training class and attend a tournament for one day. Appraisers can give prefernce for location and job description when they sign up.

Project costs are split among the students and are typically $200 or less per team. 

The latest information is available at this link:

Massachusetts DI Calendar

Go to this link to find the rules. 

Here are a few sites you may use:

http://www.cre8iowa.org/team-support/instant-challenge-library/

http://nh-di.org/doing-di/team-manager-corner/instant-challenge-page/

Here are some instant challenges for this year.