DestiNation Imagination

A member of the sixth grade DestiNation Imagination Team portrays a wizard. They participated in the State competition.

DestiNation Imagination is an international program for preschool through college age students in which divergent thinking and team building skills are used to solve a Central Challenge and to complete Instant Challenges. Each Central Challenge uses different learning styles and has several educational focuses. They are designed to build complex, creative problem-solving skills. Teams can choose from different structural, technical, artistic, improvisational, and/or performances challenges.

Through Lakeside Middle School’s ASAP (After School Activities Program), four middle school teams participated in the Regional Competition on March 8th at West Valley High School against about 37 area schools. Two teams received second place honors, another received third, while the sixth grade team placed first and earned a berth to the State competition.

DI’ve Got Secret was the name of the Central Challenge that our sixth graders competed with at State. It included creating and presenting a theatrical performance of an original story about a secret in which there was a masquerade character who appeared to be something or someone other than his/her true identity. Within the piece there was to be an optical illusion. The team had to design and created three set pieces that could be connected to form a new set piece or back drop. The entire presentation was to be given in just eight minutes.

“DI is really fun, and we get to use our imagination. It’s helped me speak up more and bring out my personality more,” explained one student. One young man has learned, “Team work and to be quiet when someone else is talking.”His teammate agreed that DestiNation Imagination teaches teamwork and to listen to others and their ideas and added, “It give you more confidence when performing, so you don’t get stage fright.”

These after school teams could not have been so successful without the many volunteer hours given by their coaches. A huge thank you goes out to Linda St. Clair, Julie Liss, Terri Marikis, Monica Loveland, Ellen Peters, Leamon Constant, and Lisa Agather for coaching. DestiNation Imagination is a wonderful avenue to allow our creative students a way to express themselves.