Imagine the Possibilities

It was just a few years ago that Dawn DiCicco was in high school herself, but in the short amount of time since then, things have changed.

During her final year at , DiCicco was a team member for Destination Imagination, a program that asks students to solve challenges creatively during a tournament setting. There were four teams in town competing.

Now a college sophomore and coordinator for the high school team, DiCicco was impressed to watch 11 Wilmington squads take part Saturday in the area Destination Imagination competition.

Three of those local teams will be continuing to the state competition. DiCicco’s high school team earned first place, Wilmington’s middle school unit snagged top billing as well and the town’s elementary school group finished in third place.

In addition, the Rising Stars group impressed at the event. Though the youngest groups of DI competitors aren’t eligible to advance, the Rising Stars were given the DaVinci Award for outstanding creativity. DiCicco said the award is just as prestigious, or more so, than a first place honor.

“My senior year, Wilmington didn’t have much of a program anymore,” said DiCicco. “To see the program triple in size and have the teams do really well, it makes people in town feel like they’re coming back. I’m sure they’re really proud of themselves, because I’m proud of them.”

The day’s event includes multiple parts. There is a challenge portion that teams have been working on finding a solution to since September. In addition, there is an instant challenge that players only have five minutes to work on before they must present it.

There are costumes and props throughout the day that are used to present each portion.

“It’s really beneficial because you learn so much about creativity and problem solving,” said DiCicco. “You go through all the steps that are involved in being in a team. You learn to work with other people who may have the same ideas as you, but may also think differently. You have to learn to compromise.”

Each team that advanced will take part in the state competition on March 26 at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. With a first or second place finish, the teams would advance to global finals.

“Now that I am in college, I see how much (Destination Imagination) helps. The kind of skills you need in the real workd, this is a great place to learn them,” said DiCicco. “There has been so much growth and the kids have so much fun. I hope it continues to grow and they continue to come out and do it. They did an amazing job and I couldn’t be happier with how it turned out.”