Destination Imagination for Middle School and High School Students
Have you been looking for an opportunity to challenge yourself both creatively and intellectually? Grab a friend or two and an advisor and sign up for a Destination Imagination competition!
https://www.destinationimagination.org/
What is Destination Imagination?
Destination Imagination is a non-profit volunteer organization that aims to prepare youth (pre-K through university) with creative and problem-solving skills so that they can succeed in the future. To accomplish its mission, Destination Imagination has six different team programs, each tailored for different grade groups within the Pre-K through university range, in which youth can participate to hone their creativity and innovation abilities: the Challenge Experience, Early Learning, Digital Open, the Imagine Experience, and Envision. In this blog post, we’ll be focusing on two programs recommended for middle school and high school students:
The Destination Imagination Challenge Experience
Who: Students Grades 3 - 12
When: Project building August to January, local tournaments February to March, Global Finals May
Price: $165 per team in the U.S. + $25 for Team Manager Background Check (check this link for pricing outside of the U.S.)
What: The Destination Imagination Challenge Experience, or just Challenge Experience for short, is one of the most popular Destination Imagination programs. The Challenge Experience is a team project-based competition hosted in 36 U.S. states, 7 Canadian provinces, and 24 countries (you can check this link to see if the Challenge Experience is available in your region). Teams consist of 2 to 7 student members, an adult team manager, and other adult team support members who help the team manager.
The challenges themselves are prompts for which teams work together to create “solutions,” or projects. The challenges fall into two category types: team or instant challenges.
For the team challenge, teams prepare projects for one of the 6 different STEAM challenges that Destination Imagination releases annually. What stands out about the Challenge Experience is the interplay between traditional STEM fields and art: most of the challenges include some technical aspect of research or creating a prop or costume as well as incorporating a storyline into their projects. Each challenge falls into one of 6 categories: technical, engineering, scientific, fine arts, improvisational, or service learning.
Because of the diverse array of challenging topics, teams have the freedom to truly choose a specific topic that interests them and demonstrate their teamwork and abilities in those specific fields.
Additionally, during the tournaments, teams are given an instant challenge. Unlike the team challenge, the prompts for the instant challenge are not released beforehand. Instant challenges test a team’s teamwork and ability to quickly create and implement solutions to a task prompt, performance prompt, or sometimes a combination of both. Teams prepare for instant challenges by practicing them throughout the year to strengthen communication and teamwork skills.
Each team competes in their own grade category: elementary, middle, or secondary level.
For more information about the 2023-24 Challenge Experience, you can check out the Destination Imagination Challenge Experience previews.
Digital Open
Who: Students Grades 3 - 12
When: Registration begins July 15, work on challenges Sept. 15 to Nov. 9, awards ceremony in December
Price: $500 per team in the U.S. (check this link for pricing outside of the U.S.)
What: The Destination Imagination Digital Open is similar to the Challenge Experience in that it is also a team-based challenge for which a team must create a solution that includes a performance of some kind. Similarly, teams consist of 2 to 7 members. However, while the Challenge Experience is presented in person at local tournaments, the Digital Open is virtual. This means that there are no regional restrictions on who can enter the Digital open.
Furthermore, in the Digital Open, there is a single prompt for all teams. The prompt is not as domain-specific as the challenges in the Challenge Experience and typically focuses more on video-editing skills.
For more information about the Digital Open, you can check out the Destination Imagination Digital Open page.
Why should you participate in Destination Imagination?
Although the price may be an initial deterrent, Destination Imagination programs can help strengthen relationships, foster academic and teamwork skills, and bolster your college applications. Additionally, although Destination Imagination itself does not offer scholarships at this time, you can reach out to your local Destination Imagination Affiliate if you need assistance with your fees.
Strengthen Relationships
Participating in the Destination Imagination Challenge Experience and/or Digital Open programs can help you meet new people and become closer to your team members. It takes a lot of time, hard work, and team organization to create a successful solution to either challenge. Your team will have to meet regularly to prepare your solution for competitions, and competing at the tournaments themselves can be a rewarding and memorable group experience. You’ll definitely make lasting memories while building your project and participating in tournaments!
Develop Academic Skills
All Destination Imagination programs facilitate the growth of research, execution, and collaboration skills. For example, when designing solutions to the Challenge Experiences, teams will have to continually cycle through the research process: coming up with an idea, researching how to implement or build that idea, creating a plan to execute their idea, and working together toward their final solution. Teams will have to figure out how to adapt to changes in their plans and what to do if one part of their solution doesn’t work. The ability to work in groups and effectively communicate is a skill that is also used in academic and professional settings, such as when you are collaborating on a research paper or working on a team in a company. Thus, the development of these skills through Destination Imagination programs can be extremely beneficial in the future.
Augment College Applications
Making a project for Destination Imagination can also be a great way to stand out in college applications. It demonstrates passion, commitment, and the development of important teamwork skills outside of a school environment. It can also be a great experience to write about in college essays as an example of a way you spend your time outside of school, a way you express yourself creatively, or a way that you overcame a difficult challenge.
How to Get Involved with Destination Imagination
Step 1: Decide Which Competition to Enter
The first step in getting started is deciding which program you want to enter. If you do not live in a region that offers the Challenge Experience, you can enter the Digital Open instead. It’s also important to take availability into account. If you know that you will be very busy with other extracurriculars during the school year or you won’t have time in the spring to participate in the tournaments, it might be a better idea to sign up for the Digital Open as well since the Digital Open lasts for only 7 weeks. However, the Challenge Experience would likely yield a more interactive experience since you get to physically present your solution at tournaments and meet other teams and see their solutions as well!
Step 2: Find a Team
To participate in the Destination Imagination Challenge Experience or Digital Open, you’ll have to form a team of at least two people and at most seven people first. You’ll also have to find a team manager and, if you decide to enter the Challenge Experience, make sure that your manager completes the team manager background check.
Step 3: Begin the Preparation Process
After you assemble a team, it’s time to begin deciding how to go about designing your solution. Make sure to review the guidelines for your challenge so that you don’t forget any of the requirements.
While brainstorming ideas with your team, make sure that everyone has a chance to voice their opinions. This way, you’ll naturally arrive at an idea that everyone supports.
After you’ve settled on a single idea, it would be good to start planning how to procure the materials you’ll need and when to meet up to work on the project. You’ll probably have to do some research on how to build certain mechanics as well. Making a to-do list and establishing a meeting schedule with your team will help set your team up for success. Remember to stay flexible and creative when issues arise—you might have to tweak aspects of your original idea!
Also, don’t forget to practice for the instant challenge that your team will have to solve during the tournament!
Step 4: Compete at the Tournament!
A few months later, once you’ve completed your project, you and your team are ready to compete in the tournament! Make sure to bring water, and snacks and double-check that you have all of the parts of your project before you leave.
Most importantly: make new friends, see cool projects, and have fun presenting what your team has been working on!
About Inspirit AI
AI Scholars Live Online is a 10 session (25-hour) program that exposes high school students to fundamental AI concepts and guides them to build a socially impactful project. Taught by our team of graduate students from Stanford, MIT, and more, students receive a personalized learning experience in small groups with a student-teacher ratio of 5:1.
