8,000 YOUTH ON 1,260 TEAMS EXPECTED AT GLOBAL FINALS MAY 23-26

FARGO, ND – Destination Imagination has had a positive impact on more than 1.5 million youth and adults who have benefitted from taking part in its acclaimed Challenge Program. This year, another 100,000 have competed in tournaments throughout the U.S. and in 30 countries to earn a spot at the finals this month.

More than 8,000 students representing 1,260 teams will advance to Global Finals, a 9% increase in teams from last year!

Global Finals will be hosted on the University of Tennessee campus in Knoxville May 23-26. This celebration of creativity will feature unique solutions for STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math), Improv, Theater Arts, and Community Service challenges.

“The Destination Imagination Program allows students K-College to learn and experience the creative process. Quantitative reasoning, problem solving, risk taking, collaboration, presentations, and thinking on your feet are some of the important skills learned in the Program,” said Chuck Cadle, CEO.

The Innovation Expo at this event will this year feature NASA, Casio, ThinkFun, Texas Instruments, and many other exhibitors. In addition, students will have a chance to learn about environmental sustainability at the 3M sponsored “Explore the Uncharted” exhibit, and brain health in the Ready-Headset-Go exhibit. There will be book signings by Dr. Paul Nussbaum, keynote speaker and author of Save Your Brain, and by Tamara Kleinberg, author of Think Sideways.
BETTER GRADES CREDITED TO DESTINATION IMAGINATION

In a survey on 1,000 students at Global Finals last year, nearly half said taking part in DI had improved their grades, and a majority reported that DI helps them “do better in school.” The majority also said DI helps them develop critical thinking skills, self-confidence, leadership and the ability to communicate better.

“The DI competition requires students to work through some very demanding critical thinking and problem solving assignments that strengthen our educational systems by enhancing the learning processes taking place in the classroom,” declared Cadle.  “We’ve seen the development of superior aptitudes in analytical thinking, leadership, project management, teamwork, communication, research and innovation in hundreds of thousands of youth since our organization’s inception. Destination Imagination is bridging the gap between what is taught in our schools and the thinking skills our youth will need to succeed in the world of the future.”

Geographic Balance: Each Appraisal Team is made up of people from different geographic regions. Each team is required to have representation from as many geographic regions as possible, and the ICMs are careful to balance the geographic mix.

Gender Balance: Whenever possible, both men and women are represented on every Appraisal Team, and the ICMs work so that elements to be appraised are evaluated by both men and women.

Age Balance: We strive for a mix of Appraisers of different relative ages on the teams. People of a variety of ages give the Appraisal team a broader experience base.

Experience Balance: Although the Appraisers at Global Finals are all well-experienced in appraising, it is very important to include Appraisers who are new to Global Finals on each team. New Appraisers keep the Appraisal Teams fresh. They also take what they have learned at Global Finals back to their Affiliates and Regions to make them stronger.

Alumni: Alumni have seen the program from a different vantage point, and they may recognize the elements of a team’s Presentation in a different way. They also understand the program and respect the process better than anyone.

The Appraisal Teams are analyzed to make sure they represent these factors. Because of the balance that is necessary, some wonderful Appraisers must take their turn “sitting out” a Global Finals Tournament. It’s not that they are less talented than other Appraisers. They must sometimes take time off because it is important to keep the teams balanced and to always give new Appraisers the opportunity to learn from the experience of appraising at the biggest and best DI Tournament.

It is important to remember that not every Appraiser who is nominated to Appraise actually applies. Sometimes only a small number of the people who are nominated by an Affiliate return their completed applications by the deadline. The ICMs choose from the people who have submitted completed applications.

To order photos and more go to www.david-hastings.com/destination2012

47 Teams from Around North Dakota Compete For Destination ImagiNation

Forty-seven teams from Centennial Elementary, Central Cass, Enderlin, Harvey, Leeds, Minot AFB, Northern Cass and South Fargo DI presented their creative solutions to a number of challenges during the North Dakota Destination ImagiNation State Tournament on Saturday March 31st at the Central Cass School in Casselton.

Tournament results:

Challenge A: Assembly Required

Middle Level 1^st Place: Boomtastics, Central Cass

Challenge B: The Social Stage

Elementary Level 1^st Place: Zoom Zag Psyco Fish, Centennial Elementary

2^nd Place: Castaways, Ely Elementary

3^rd Place: The Seven Muskateers, Leeds

Middle Level: 1^st Place: The 5 Blondes, South Fargo DI

2^nd Place: Moldy Biscuits, Northern Cass

Challenge C: Coming Attractions

Elementary Level 1^st Place: Creative Is Our Middle Name, Central Cass

2^nd Place: Mini Chickens, Northern Cass

3^rd Place: The Terminators, Central Cass

Middle Level 1^st Place: Uno plus lyo, Ely Elementary

2^nd Place: Got Name?, Harvey

3^rd Place: R.O.C.K (Really Obvious Cool Kids), Northern Cass

Secondary Level 1^st Place: The Hopelessly Lost, Centeral Cass

2^nd Place: The Mango Squirrels, South Fargo DI

3^rd Place: Rainbow Sheep, Minot AFB Youth Center

Challenge D: News to Me

Elementary Level 1^st Place: The Ducttape Di-asters, Centennial Elementary

Middle Level 1^st Place: These Pants are Tearing Our Friendship Apart,

South Fargo DI

2^nd Place: Kook Aids and Chicken, Central Cass

3^rd Place: Oven Freezers, Harvey

Challenge E: Hold It!

Elementary Level: 1^st Place: The Fab 4, Centennial Elementary

2^nd Place: Amazing 7 Extreme Team, Central Cass

3^rd Place: Smarticals, Enderlin

Middle Level: 1^st Place: Digers, Central Cass

2^nd Place: Special Pillow Singers(S.P.S), Enderlin

3^rd Place: Ninja Squirrels, Minot AFB Youth Center

Rising Stars®  Built to Last – Teams are non-competitive and do not advance to Global Finals. Teams who showcased their challenge were from Northern Cass, Harvey, Centennial Elementary, Central Cass, and Enderlin.

First Place teams are eligible to advance to Global Finals in Knoxville, TN May 23-26, 2012 where they will compete with over 20,000 students from around the world. The competition offers an emerging view of 21^st century education-one that has creativity, teamwork and innovation at its core.  There will be Opening and Closing ceremonies as well as dozens of activities and pin trading!  For more information about DI, please visit our website at www.creatend.org.

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Final Scores – Tournament 2012

The Council on Foreign Relations recommends that creative problem solving, critical thinking, communications and leadership should receive more significant focus in America’s schools in order to supplement academic learning with life skills that will help our youth be successful. An international non-profit team problem solving challenge program, Destination ImagiNation, has been involving kids in those activities for decades, and the kids themselves said in a recent survey the program has helped their grades.

In a report issued this week expressing concern over the failure of U.S. schools to prepare youth for the highly competitive world of the future, the Council on Foreign Relations echoed a familiar theme long-embraced by the non-profit Destination ImagiNation: critical thinking, creative problem solving, leadership, teamwork and communications should be infused into the curriculum of the American educational system.

In its Independent Task Force Report No. 68 entitled “U.S. Education Reform and National Security,” the CFR warned that even national security may be jeopardized if the nation does not adequately, thoroughly prepare our youth to think, imagine, collaborate and communicate. The CFR observed that, “In surveys and interviews, most employers say the skills that are in high demand today are the same skills that students were supposed to be learning in school 50 or one 100 years ago: the ability to write and speak clearly and persuasively, the ability to solve problems and think critically, and the ability to work both independently and on teams.”

The CFR further cited research by the Partnership for 21st Century Skills that called for schools to focus in six areas, including:

• The traditional core academic subjects
• 21st-century content, including global, financial, and environmental awareness
• Learning and thinking skills, including creativity, critical thinking, problem solving, communication, and collaboration
• Information and communications technology skills
• Life and career skills, including time management, group work, and leadership
• The CFR task force was co-chaired by Condoleezza Rice, former U.S. Secretary of State, and Joel I. Klein, former Chancellor of New York City Schools.

“We are already seeing some teachers, and indeed some school systems, embracing curriculum that includes critical thinking and creative problem solving challenges,” said Chuck Cadle, M.Ed., CEO of Destination ImagiNation, Inc., based in the Philadelphia suburb of Cherry Hill, NJ. “This report, and others like it, continue to establish a link between those skills and successful futures for our children and our nation. We agree that there should be a national movement to standardize these programs across the American educational spectrum, and that it should happen sooner rather than later. Too much is at stake.”

Cadle pointed out results from a recent survey of students who participate in Destination ImagiNation that found a clear majority believes Destination ImagiNation helps them “do better in school,” and that almost half credited DI with helping them improve their grades.

A University of Virginia study last year concluded students involved in DI are better at solving open-ended challenges by applying critical thinking skills, creativity and collaboration than non-DI students.

Destination ImagiNation is an extraordinary international non-profit organization that provides educational programs for students to learn and experience creativity, teamwork and problem solving. Every year, DI reaches 125,000 students across the U.S. and in more than 30 countries. DI’s core program is an educational process in which student teams solve open-ended Challenges and present their solutions at Tournaments. Destination ImagiNation, Inc. is a non-profit organization with more than 1.3 million alumni and a global network of 35,000 volunteers.

The CFR report stated: “The United States has traditionally led the world in patent applications, inventions, and innovation. The Task Force members believe that to retain this important competitive edge, lessons in creativity—whether in the arts or in creative analysis or imaginative problem solving, must begin in early elementary school. These vital skills should be incorporated into extracurricular programs as well as woven into lessons of math, literacy, language, science, and technology and tested through interdisciplinary simulations.”

For more information, please visit http://www.cfr.org/united-states/us-education-reform-national-security/p27618.

I am sharing this with permission from Lisa.  Lisa is a long time supporter of Destination ImagiNation in North Dakota and has been a champion for the young people of the state. Her passion, enthusiasm and dedication to our program has been both inspiring and a breath of fresh air. This is not the first and is surely not the last bit of inspiration to our board of directors as we prep for our 2012 Affiliate Tournament.

Good Morning to you all!!!

As the tournament is quickly approaching, the e-mails are a flying in, the lists are getting made and my vehicle is suddenly getting full.  The scurry of last minute details, school keys  being transferred for person to person, the double check of the to do list, the hamburger needs to be browned and the “Flormatcharooni” game needs to be laminated; all these things are left to do. But right now  I sit for a few moments alone in my home.  It is quiet and I am thinking why do I do DI?  The is a huge boiling, churning pit of excitement and anticipation in my stomach for these next few weeks.  I can hardly wait to see the school filled with kids in costume and dragging sets through the halls.  I promise you I will be in tears at some point during that day and tears of joys at that!  I am thrilled to see the kids present their challenge solutions to their families and team managers. The positive support from those loving people for the kids is the most wonderful thing to watch. We as a board and appraisers, while necessary, are lucky to be included in this.  These kids have put their hearts and souls into their challenges and I am anticipating those solutions, coupled with their humor, art and teamwork.  What a wonderful day for these kids to be celebrated for being exactly who they are… smart, funny, artistic, and BRILLIANT!  Little do those kids know what they have learned from their participation.  Teamwork, persistence,public speaking and goal setting are some but we all know that many, many more things are in this program.   I see those things in my son, Lane, who has grown to be a wonderful and articulate young man with DI.   I know as the Class of 2012 leaves Central Cass this year, it graduates many students who are going to make a difference in their worlds.  I am so proud of them! (I’ll be crying then as well, just to warn ya!)

So in the next few weeks, when I am feeling a little overwhelmed and my lists are getting a little to long.  I am going to think of a grandma who last year, at appraiser training, sat across from me and told me all about her “little bugs” and their challenge.  And yes, she and I were crying a little tear or two of joy by the end of that conversation.  And rightly so because those kids had worked so hard and they well dang cool! (You know who you are, Linda!!)

I do DI for the kids…the big ones, the little ones, the ones from my school and the ones from other schools, the girly girls, the tom-boys and the boys who have risked ridicule by dressing up in CRAZY outfits! (Once a North Cass boy wore a dress in a challenge!  He rocked in my book!)  They are the soul of this program.  I also do DI for the parents, the siblings, and the grandparents.  The are the heart of DI.  They support and cheer and beam with pride and then should!! They have driven kids around, rearranged their schedules, and been there through it all   I do DI for the TMs, who have given up hours (for which they are never thanked enough) and their homes to make this happen. The TMs who deal with kids, parents and all the other emergencies that arise.  And truly, I do DI for ME!   Because I love how I feel inside when I am part of something that is so special!  It make me feel like I am helping the world in my own  way.

So I can hardly wait until tomorrow so that we can show others how wonderful DI is.  We will let them see what it is all about and light fires in them so that they may feel this way, too!  That way they will appraise with their hearts as well.  And in the end help our DI kids!

So in the next couple weeks when I am feeling a little swamped, I am going to think about a group of space aliens from the planet of Femaleta, carrying a set that was painted like an all pink mall with 400 white Christmas lights glued into their dark alien sky and the one boy on their team who was stranded on their all girl planet. (Who incidentally told his team managers when asked if he it bothered him that he was the only guy on the team, “Heck no!!!  Have you looked at the girls on our team?”)  I am going to think about all the fun and the pride I felt for them that day!  And I am going to give this year’s teams all of my best because I am helping build memories.Years from know kids will look back at March 31st, 2012 and remember all the fun they had presenting their challenge and showing us their solutions!

And it is going to make me feel wonderful!

This board rocks!   Thank you all for the hard work that you are doing to bring this day together!  It is just so awesome!!!

To apply for ValeDIctorian of Global Finals 2012 graduating class, visit this website and follow the instructions. All applications must be received by May 4, 2012.

Every year, DISC provides up to $10,000 in scholarships to deserving candidates pursuing their education beyond high school. More information on scholarships and the application process can be found online at www.didisc.org.

Destination ImagiNation hosted its annual Quality Review Panel for the 2012-13 Program Materials at its Headquarters in Cherry Hill, NJ last week. The event, now in its 4th year, brought together many of the organization’s different stakeholders for one common purpose: review the organizations most important product, its Challenges. In attendance were members of the Board of Trustees, Headquarter Staff, International Challenge Masters and State/Country Directors.

The Quality Review Panel serves as one of the final links in DI’s Challenge development process, which in its entirety takes almost a full year to complete. Teams of Challenge writers have been hard at work since first meeting last June to create the 2012-13 Challenges. By the time the Quality Review Panel sees the Challenges, they have already been through four drafts and four dissections utilizing more than 100 volunteers. The function of the Quality Review Panel is to ensure that the Challenges can be successfully implemented and solved around the world  “The Quality Review Process has become increasingly important since its inception because the process always catches things that might otherwise slip through the cracks,” said Andrew Whitmire, Assistant DI Program Director.

With the addition of an International Country Director from Colombia, this year’s Quality Review Panel also took a step towards increasing its global viewpoint. “Destination ImagiNation is a global organization and with global participation increasing at an incredible rate, we have to make sure we are reflecting that in our program materials,” stated Chuck Cadle, CEO. Along with adding new members to the group, the Quality Review Panel was also held much earlier than in previous years. “Typically we have not been able to hold this meeting until Challenge development weekend in June, which has always been a late start. The change in date will now give the internal DI staff greater flexibility in making final changes,” said Sheila Swanson, DI Program Director. She went on to say, “we are so pleased with the direction the Quality Review Panel is going and look forward to its continued benefit in the future.”

A story on NPR this morning prompted me to take time from my over-booked schedule to write my first DI blog post.

The story states, “Richard Arum, a co-author of the book and a professor of sociology at New York University, tells NPR’s Steve Inskeep that the fact that more than a third of students showed no improvement in critical thinking skills after four years at a university was cause for concern.”

“Our country today is part of a global economic system, where we no longer have the luxury to put large numbers of kids through college and university and not demand of them that they are developing these higher order skills that are necessary not just for them, but for our society as a whole,” Arum says.  http://www.npr.org/2011/02/09/133310978/in-college-a-lack-of-rigor-leaves-students-adrift

In the last 15 years I have hired over 200 people – most of them recent engineering college grads.  These kids are not getting the skills they need to thrive in an American economy that is fueled by innovation.

Like most DI team managers that are a few weeks away from their first tournament, I’m totally stressed-out and frustrated and wondering why I ever signed up to do this again this year.  Then I ask myself, “Are these kids getting anything out of this experience?”

Here is the list of practical, high-value things these kids have learned from our DI team that they would have NEVER learned by the end of their college education.  (Keep in mind that I coach the technical (engineering) challenge).

Real-world Teamwork & People Skill

• When to stick-up for your ideas (central challenge) and when to back down when the leader sets a direction (instant challenge).
• One bad apple on the team …
• Why teams/companies often don’t hire friends and family
• Not everyone on the team does an equal amount of work
• Accountability to a team
• Real teams don’t have coaches yelling orders from the sidelines
• Power of specialized roles (instant challenge)
• Importance of a good leader – and when it is best to set aside your ego to let a good leader lead.
• Supporting and covering for a team member when a personal crisis happens.
• Bickering through the entire instant challenge will get you a score of 4 and nearly last at Globals.  Cooperating will get you an instant challenge score of 87 and in the top 20 at Globals.
• You can become great friends with Koreans and Chinese without ever speaking a word of each other’s language.
• Learning by living – Forming, Storming, Norming, and Performing – and never getting beyond “Storming” is a strong motivation to fix team issues the next year.
• Setting expectations at the start – and enforcing them.
• If your team mate missed their commitment last week, then this week….
• Being a geek can be tons of fun.

Project Management

• Gantt Charts.  Linked tasks.  Task durations.  Crashing a schedule.
• Critical Path
• Work distribution
• Risk management & schedule – test the riskiest parts first.
• Importance of assigning small, well-defined tasks each week.
• Minimizing meeting time – but making sure everything is properly coordinated.
• Setting goals – and not giving rewards when reward milestones are not met.
• Recognizing and changing plans fast when something isn’t going to work.

Innovation Skills

• The difference in thinking from “my idea didn’t work” to “my first idea didn’t work”
• 90-90 rule – When you are 90% done, you only have 90% to go!
• Divergent thinking skills.  “That’s a great idea!  Can you tell me 10 other ways you could solve that problem?  Which of those ideas could you try now and have done in an hour?”
• “That idea sounds like a lot of work.  Can you do a quick test to see if it will work before you invest lots of time?”
• “That idea is really cool – but high risk.  What is a parallel path a team member can be working on if this idea does not work?”
• I WILL figure this out.
• Memorizing Thomas Edison quotes:
•  “Genius is 99% perspiration and 1% inspiration.”
•   “Most people don’t recognize opportunity because it comes dressed in overalls and looks like work”.
•     In other words, Innovation is ALL about hard work, not a light bulb that suddenly appears over your head.

• The fun is earned from lots of frustration and hard work.
• Brainstorming
• Designing something to complex customer requirements.
• Ask “what can I do that would NEVER work, then try to make that idea work.”
• Being labeled “weird” is a small price to pay for a really creative, interesting life.

Engineering Skills

• Having 3 years of experience as a critical engineer on a project with a professional engineering manager mentor – before the age of 15.
• Designing something when you don’t know how to use tools is like writing a cook book when you never have been in a kitchen.
• Going from not knowing how to use a screwdriver to being skilled and efficient with power tools -  safely.
• Make drawings before you start cutting.
• Realize that the first thing you make won’t be what you take on stage.  Make prototypes understanding that you are just trying to flush-out the main issues with a design.
• Find things that are similar to what you want to build –and get design ideas from things that work well.
• Screws – types and how they are properly used.
• Righty-tighty, lefty-loosey.
• Shafts, sprockets, couplers…
• Plumbing – pipes, threads, clamps…
• Hands-on Electrical – AC, DC, motors, solenoids, electrical valves, linear actuators, fuses, wire gage, soldering, crimping, voltage vs. current….
• Cylinders – hydraulic, pneumatic, leverage
• Duct Tape and Glue – friend and foe.
• Springs
• Structures
• If you build it in the PVC pipe isle of Home Depot – you will have access to every part you need – and get lots of attention.
• Literally getting a round shaft to fit in a square hole.  It is really hard to make a square hole.
• Learning measure twice, cut once – the hard way.
• How to get a stripped screw out.
• Discovering, through experience, why screws are better than nails and plywood is stronger than particle board.
• Researching basic designs that are available on the internet so I’m not re-inventing the wheel.
• When you go to the hardware store, buy lots of stuff that might be needed if the first idea does not work.
• Resourcefulness (find ways to use trash) and cost reducing “products” that are over-budget.
• A skirt made of magazines gets more compliments than an expensive skirt purchased at a fancy store.
• Find something in the garage (now) that you can make work instead of asking to take another trip to the hardware store.
• If you do nothing to solve a problem, it will happen again – and be real frustrating.
• Girls can be the best at using tools and designing technical things.
• If the tower is standing, don’t try to make it better in the last 5 seconds.

Presentation Skills

• Getting a timid kid to speak with confidence.
• Voice projection
• Improvisation – fake like you know what you are doing.
• Something colorful scores better than something cardboard-colored – even it more work went into the cardboard.
• Leveraging humor
• Storytelling
• “Selling” your product to your customer.

And MOST IMPORTANT – Independent Learning Skills

• The skill and confidence that “I don’t need to be taught how to do something – I know I’ll figure it out, one way or another, on my own.”

I’m still a frustrated and exhausted DI coach, but I’ve accomplished my goal of giving my team members a tremendous head-start with valuable, real-world skills that were learned the best way – the hard way.  In 9 years, I can’t wait to hire these kids.  They will be way ahead of their classmates in having valuable, real-world innovation skills.

Hang in there!  You are doing a great thing for these kids.  Keep in mind the real value comes from the process, not the product.

Scott Dalgleish, Boulder CO

My DI blog from last year: http://www.90percentdone.com/destination-imagination-globals/

About Scott (from personal blog):  http://ninetypercentdone.typepad.com/about.html