Team Winners from NJ Destination Imagination Heading to Nationals

Eight teams from the 21 teams with 123 Bernards Township students who competed late in March in the N.J. Destination Imagination (DI) tournament will head to the Global Finals in Knoxville on May 22 to 25, said DI Coordinator Peter Winter.

Three of the qualifying teams are from Ridge High School, two teams are from the and three elementary school teams, Winter said.

Destination Imagination is a creative problem solving competition open to all grade levels, kindergarten through 12. Winter said Bernards had teams from each school, but the group within the township is run by parents.

In May, the winning local teams will face about 1,000 teams in Tennessee, Winter said. Bernards Township has had teams win at the national level in previous years, he said.

The state competition was held on March 23 in Robbinsville, Winter said.

State Destination Imagination competition to be held at Ridge High School next year

Next year, the statewide Destination Competition is due to be held in the spring at Ridge High School, Winter said.

Destination Imagination presents students with "challenges" which encourage them to "think outside the box," Winter said. "If they don't say you can't do it, then you can," he said.

At the competition, students compete against their grade levels at "instant challenges."

Teams, usually made up of six to seven students, prepared ahead for the state level competition by coming up with a solution to the challenges.

For example, Winter said, one challenge this year was to create small vehicles that had to cross the ground, and end up in specific zones, encountering a "dangerous" situation around the way.

Another was to create a structure from bamboo capable of holding weight; yet another was to perform an eight-minute skit without speaking, Winter said. Some students used mime or musical instruments for that challenge, he said.

Each fall, the local Destination Imagination groups sends a call-out to interested students in a Friday Folder for each school within Bernards Township, Winter said. School staff also have information for students who wish to become involved in a DI project in future years, he said.

More information about Destination Imagination is available online.