Submitted by Bedford Destination Imagination
Destination Imagination Global Finals is billed as “The World’s Largest Celebration of Creativity” – approximately 8000 students on 1100 teams from 15 countries, gathered in Kansas City, Missouri. And next week, from May 22 to 25, two teams of Bedford students will be a part of it.
Destination Imagination (DI) is a project-based extracurricular that teaches kids the creative process, from concept to design to execution, with an emphasis on teamwork, creativity, and problem-solving. Everything about a team’s project is entirely original work of the students’ own hands and minds. Parents, teachers, and coaches can’t measure, cut or nail together wood for the team, sew costumes, or rebuild or improve something that falls apart.
Click twice in each image in the gallery below to see it at full size
This year two Bedford teams scored tops in the state on their Challenges and earned the right to represent Massachusetts at the international competition, DI Global Finals. The Skittleworms (Ada Cooprider, Toby Favalora, Rachael Hsu, Evan Kelly, Hayden McAllister, and Jane Stewart), a middle-level team of 7th graders, will present their top-scoring solution in the Scientific Challenge, Medical Mystery, which involved researching human anatomy, physiology, and neurology to build a technological replica simulating the way the nervous system relays sensory impulses to the brain. 5th grade Team TEJKMO (Tyler Munsie, Eliza Dickert, Jacob Loroutas, Kevin Visoka, Mina Belir, and Owen Walton) will compete in the Technical Challenge, On Target, showcasing their team-built drone (for which they learned how to solder wires and program a flight control board) and team-designed payload dropping system that delivers parcels from the air down to a precise target on the floor.
DI Global Finals is more than a competition. The two Bedford teams will have the chance to view other student creations and engage with thousands of like-minded students from across the country, and around the world, all of whom have a passion for STEAM and for the creative arts. At the event this year, students will be able to display their creations at a booth as well as during their performance, offering an up-close glimpse at their handiwork and the design thinking that went into it.
The students would like to thank the community for their support over the course of the past month and for your patronage of their Art Show concession stands and restaurant fundraising nights. The teams are still fundraising to offset the significant competition and travel fees and will be hosting a benefit night at Chipotle on Monday, May 20 between the hours of 5 and 9 PM. Diners who tell the cashier that they are there to support Bedford Destination Imagination can ensure that a portion of the proceeds goes to our two teams. You can also support the teams via direct donation at www.gofundme.com/f/bedford-destination-imagination-global-finals
Bedford DI would like to extend its sincere thanks to the following community sponsors for supporting our students and making this trip possible: The Bedford Rotary, Bedford Orthodontics, Chestnut Dental, AFC Urgent Care, the JGMS MSPA, Callahan’s Karate, Suzanne & Company, and Ginger Japanese Restaurant. These students are very excited to represent Bedford on the Global stage and to bring their passion for arts, engineering, and creativity back to Bedford as the next generation of young makers!
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