News Release
March 2, 2006
Colorful And Challenging Destination Imagination Event Is Saturday, March 4
Denver's annual Destination ImagiNation (DI) event will happen throughout the day on Saturday, March 4 at George Washington High School. DI brings together hundreds of students, parents and teachers in one of the most colorful and challenging district-wide events of the year.
Destination ImagiNation is designed to help students develop a unique and critical skill set by emphasizing creativity, problem solving, and teamwork.
Beginning at 8 a.m. and running until about 5 p.m. approximately 110 teams are scheduled to compete in a variety of events (listed below).
The Team Challenges for this year are:
- 1-2-Change-A-Roo (Non-Competitive, available to students in grade 2 and lower) - The team's challenge is to make up a play. The team will build a prop that has an opening that is big enough for at least one team member to go through. One team member will go through the opening and change in some way. The play must have a number in it. The team will make something out of newspaper and tape.
- Back At You! (Available to students in kindergarten - 12th grade) - The team's challenge is to design and construct a delivery device that will send tennis and/or ping pong balls from a departure zone to an opening in a receiver. The team members will design and construct a ball return device that will send balls from the receiver back to the departure zone. They will integrate the process of sending and returning the balls into a story about someone or something that has gone away and comes back.
- Kidz Rulz (Available to students in kindergarten - 12th grade) - The teams challenge is to create and present a story about a place where it is possible to bend one of the five DI Rules of Motion and where the characters can create their own Kidz Rulz. Team members will design and present a demonstration that creates the illusion of what might happen when they bend one of the DI Rules of Motion. They will design and create a theatrical set that depicts the setting for their story.
- How'd tHAT Happen? (Available to students in kindergarten - 12th grade) - The team's challenge is to create and present a theatrical performance on an original story about unusual events in a nation other than the team's own. They will integrate research about the nation into the story and will present the story in the style of one of the eight genres listed in the challenge. They will design and create a hat that dramatically transforms the wearer and will also use one or more technical methods to cause a bizarre happening to take place.
- On Safari (Available to students in kindergarten - 12th grade) - The team's challenge is to create, during a 30-minute timed period at the tournament, a six-minute improvisational skit about a safari. The team members will research six different team-selected environments and, at the tournament, randomly choose one to integrate into their safari. They will also research six different team-selected living inhabitants, one from each environment, and, at the tournament, randomly choose one to integrate into the safari. They will create an original innovative device and use it in the skit, demonstrate one improvisational technique during the skit, integrate a randomly-selected disaster into the skit, establish a goal they hope to achieve on their safari, and integrate a randomly-selected symbol into the skit. Observers are allowed only during the performance.
- Inside DImension (Available to students in kindergarten - 12th grade) - The team's challenge is to design, build and test two structures made completely of wood and glue. One structure will fit inside the other, and the structures will be tested simultaneously. Team members will research one architect of the team's choosing and create a story about the life and times of that architect as told by an insider. The insider is a character created by the team that represents an architectural creation designed and built by the chosen architect.
In addition to the Team Challenges listed above, each team will participate in the Instant Challenge portion of the tournament. This is the part of the competition where teams are expected to think on their feet, since they won't know what challenge they will be asked to solve until they walk into the Instant Challenge room.
Winners will advance to the Colorado tournament set for Saturday, April 29 at the University of Denver. The global finals will be held from Tuesday, May 23 to Sunday, May 28 at the University of Tennessee.
George Washington High School is located at 655 S. Monaco St. For more information about the event, please contact Becky Muggli in the DPS Gifted & Talented Education Office, 720-423-8274.