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Creativity is key

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The DI-no Nuggets from the Algoma School District competed in the high school level of the technical challenge at Saturday's tournament.
The DI-no Nuggets from the Algoma School District competed in the high school level of the technical challenge at Saturday's tournament. Janelle Fisher photos

Local Destination Imagination teams tackle sectional tournament

By Janelle Fisher

Arts and Entertainment Editor

ALGOMA – Teams of students from across Northeast Wisconsin converged at Algoma High School this past Saturday to compete in Wisconsin’s first sectional tournament of the Destination Imagination (DI) season.

Each team arrived armed with costumes, props and scenery to present their solution to one of seven challenges released at the beginning of the year, each focused on a different subject or skill.

The technical challenge asked students to design and create a pinball system to be integrated into an action/adventure story.

Students in the scientific challenge dug into the world of archeology, discovering artifacts and characters from the past.

In the fine arts challenge, teams were tasked with bringing a piece of artwork to life.

Improvisational teams created two-act shows complete with costumes and stock characters on the spot.

The engineering challenge had teams creating modular devices to launch bean bags and be incorporated into stories where everything goes according to plan until a catalyst occurs.

Teams competing in the service learning challenge presented fantasy stories with details intertwined with details from community service projects carried out earlier in the season.

The youngest teams at the tournament competed in the Rising Stars program, creating stories about underwater creatures on vacation.

Team Donut You Know Our Name from Algoma
Team Donut You Know Our Name from Algoma competed in the elementary level of the scientific challenge.

The teams at Saturday’s tournament had been preparing all season to compete against other teams in their challenge and age level with the hopes of earning a spot in the state tournament, scheduled for April 6 at UW-Green Bay.

Regardless of which challenge they competed in, though, DI Regional Director Tim Hornberger said all students involved in Destination Imagination learn a handful of essential skills.

“The three key things are teamwork, problem solving and creativity,” he said. “I think those are all very valuable skills as they go on in life and things that maybe aren’t taught as much in school. They’re learning how to work with their peers and maybe at times there are disagreements and trying to work through those and learning real life skills in a fun, semi-competitive environment.”

Although those skills can be taught in a classroom, DI Regional Director Robyn Harper said a program like DI affords students the opportunity to further develop their skills and express their creativity more freely.

“DI itself takes their skills that they might have learned in the classroom and they can do whatever they want with them,” she said. “They’re not confined to ‘you must fill out this form’ or ‘you must answer this question.’ The open endedness lets them do and be them. And the skills that they’re learning carry on to all walks of life, no matter what they do — their personal relationships, their jobs, any other class projects with groups. Everything they learn in this program carries on to all other aspects of life.”

“You’re learning life skills and you can also apply different things that you already know — like from other seasons — to this year’s,” said Mackenzie Stewart, a member of the DI-no Nuggets team from Algoma, competing at the high school level in the technical challenge. “And then you can find those, too, in your everyday life. And you learn a lot of teamwork.”

One thing that sets DI apart from other programs and promotes creativity, Harper said, is the limited role of adults — only members of the team are allowed to contribute to how they solve their selected challenge and no adult interference is allowed.

“You’re bringing yourself to the program — your own solution,” she said. “Adults aren’t supposed to interfere. They’re not supposed to tell you what to do. You own it. You do it. This is yours.”

Especially for teams who are just getting started in DI, Hornberger said it’s important to remember that, although the tournament is a big day, there is much value to be found in the journey they took to get there.

“For teams just starting out, I would say that it’s all about the journey,” he said. “Yes, a day like today — the tournament — is kind of the culmination of that journey. But even if things don’t go well at the tournament, you can still have a successful season based on everything you learned to get here.”

Algoma, Kewaunee County, news

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