Destination Imagination - Info Night on Oct 5th...

The following submitted by Michelle Barrette.

Medfield DESTINATION IMAGINATION Information Night!

Medfield Destination Imagination invites Medfield students in grades 2-12 and their parents to an Information Night - Thursday, October 5th from 7-8pm - Wheelock School Cafeteria - to learn more about what it means to be on a DI team.

Think of DI as a non-sport team competition. Small groups of like-age students work together to master specific challenges using their creative problem solving talents. The skills involved include building, art, science, music, design, creative writing, drama, carpentry - the list goes on. Basically whatever the team members can do or want to accomplish. The key component to DI’s educational, STEAM based program is students working together with other students to come up with creative solutions to interesting challenges. Medfield Public School students in grades 2–12 are eligible to participant on teams at Wheelock, Dale, Blake, and Medfield High School. This year, students can select from the following Destination Imagination challenges:

Maze Craze technical challenge – your team will design and build a device, called a Maze Traveller, that will navigate a tournament provided maze. Prop will transform in the maze and remove an object from the maze.

Unlikely Attraction scientific challenge – what happens when an amusement park operates somewhere else? Team will use concepts from physics and other scientific fields to create an Attraction that operates in an Unlikely Location during the tournament, team will visibly and audibly represent the Unlikely Location.

Drop Zone engineering challenge – design and build a structure from a specified set of material that can withstand impacts from dropped weights while being as light as possible.

Change of Tune fine arts challenge – life is full of surprises and sometimes plans must change. Create and present a two-act musical that includes a change in plans.

Treasure improvisational challenge – team will create an improvisational skit, live at the tournament, that tells the story of Explorers returning a Cultural Treasure to it’s rightful owner. Team will research real cultures and cultural treasures.

Inside Impact service learning change – carry out a project that addresses a community need; create a presentation that incorporates data Infographics and a Cache Storage Device.

Friends Everywhere early learning challenge (available to 2nd grade only) – create and present a story about children living in 2 different cultures. Team members should wear costumes that reflects one of the cultures of the play.

Sound interesting? Come to DI’s October 5th Information Night to learn more. Meet and talk with Medfield students who participated last year as they show you some “Instant Challenges” and share their Destination Imagination experience.

What skills do students need?

Bottom-line, teamwork and creativity are the two key components to DI. You will be surprised by the skills and talents you did not know you had!

Parents are invited to “KEEP OUT”!

DI is students working with students to problem solve and create solutions to challenges. The only role parents’ play is as a guide to the process. Each team will have the support of two parent Team Managers but students drive the solution, not the “coaches”.

How do the teams get formed?

Students sign-up individually, just as they would for a sport team, and get assigned to teams typically ranging in size from 5-7 members. Teams may be same-gender or mixed gender and are generally comprised of students in the same grade. If a group of students want to form a team and sign up together, generally that can be supported.

Where does the competition part come into play?

The team members work together during the school year to prepare for the regional competition in March where Medfield DI teams compete against teams from local area towns. This year the regional tournament will be held at Stoughton High School. The top scoring teams from the regional competition go on to compete in a statewide competition at Worcester Polytech Institute. The winners from the statewide competition go on to compete in a global competition held in Knoxville, TN….and yes, Medfield has had numerous teams make it to Globals in Knoxville.

What type of commitment should we expect?

The teams drive the process. Typically teams start meeting in late Oct on whatever day/time the team collectively chooses. Meeting weekly is typical but the groups are flexible. When closer to the final competition, teams typically choose to meet more frequently.

When is the deadline?

Join Medfield DI for the Information Session on Thursday, October 5, Wheelock Cafeteria at 7 pm. Registration forms are due no later than Friday, Oct 13.

If you can’t make it to the Information Night, please email info@medfielddi.com for additional information. You can also visit the MA DI website www.madikids.org or the national DI website www.idodi.org .