Renaissance Academy STEAM Team Traveling for Global Finals

Phoenixville, PA – Renaissance Academy Charter School (RA) is proud to announce that their middle school Destination Imagination team is heading to Knoxville, TN to show off their hard work and dedication on a global level with participants from around the world.

This talented team, comprised of all 6th grade students, includes Talen Harakal, Vai Turner, Pranav Shrirang, and Dylan Viskne. In their very first year of competition, the team participated in the organization's regionals and qualified for the Destination Imagination Global Finals. The boys will be competing in Knoxville for the event from May 23-26, 2018.

Their winning project is based on the Destination Imagination “Maze Craze” category, where they designed and created a remote control vehicle (the Maze Traveler) that had to navigate a maze at the regional tournament. The team also designed and built a prop that transformed inside of the maze (exploding helicopter), as well as a magnetic crane to remove the vehicle from the maze. To wrap up their project, they were required to write and present their solution as a skit telling the story of their Maze Traveler’s journey.

Destination Imagination (DI) is a Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Mathematics (STEAM) organization whose goal of is "To be the global leader in teaching the creative process from imagination to innovation."

Open to students in grades 3-6, Renaissance began its first DI Team this year with excitement and enthusiasm. The entire group got off to a remarkable start. Under the direction of Renaissance Academy staff members, Melissa Weidman and Michael Kempton Packard, all of the RA DI teams medaled in their age groups. Mr. Packard was pleased with the creativity, effort, and dedication of the students in the DI club. He looks forward to continuing and furthering the program at Renaissance. "The Destination Imagination program sparks creativity, fosters cooperation and team work, and provides a fun and competitive environment for personal growth."

Destination Imagination was incorporated in 1982 when they took over the charter for the OM Association, Inc. In 1999, the name was changed to Destination Imagination, Inc. and since then, the non-profit has impacted more than 1.5 million participants worldwide. Learn more about DI at www.destinationimagination.org.

Established in 1999, Renaissance Academy is a fully-accredited, K-12, award-winning, tuition-free, college prep charter school located in Phoenixville, PA. The school currently educates over 1060 students from 20 surrounding school districts. More information on the school can be found at www.rak12.org.