DI Registration Form (Click on link to access PDF version of form)
West Central Destination Imagination (WCDI) is a fun, hands-on system of learning that fosters students’ creativity, courage and curiosity through open-ended academic Challenges in the fields of STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics) as well as service learning. Our participants learn patience, flexibility, persistence, ethics, respect for others and their ideas, and the collaborative problem solving process. Annually, it offers seven new standards-based challenges in STEAM, Improv, Service Learning, and Early Learning design.
In 2014, Dr. Mark A. Runco, Professor of Educational Psychology for the Torrance Creativity Center at the University of Georgia and Board Member for the Center for Childhood Creativity, completed a study measuring student engagement and creative attitudes and values among students who participate in Destination Imagination and students who do not. According to the statistically significant results, Destination Imagination students were found to be:
- More engaged and imaginative when completing given tasks
- More creative than non-DI participants
- More self-confident and tenacious
- Able to elaborate on and generate more ideas than non-DI participants
- Great collaborators—86% of DI students agree that their teamwork skills improved within 1-2 years of participation
- More inquisitive—92% of DI students agree that solutions to problems are often improved by considering a variety of perspectives
All of the Destination Imagination (DI) challenges are project-based, and they teach the creative process from imagination to innovation. Destination Imagination's goal is to help student teams learn to be creative in every aspect of their lives. At the start of the season, teams choose one of seven Challenges. After weeks spent creating, developing and practicing their solutions, they go to a local area tournament. Top-scoring teams advance to the SD state tournament. The top level of the tournament is Global Finals, the world’s largest celebration of creativity.
The DI challenges are developed annually to ensure they are relevant and align to National Education Standards, STEM standards, ELA Common Core Standards and Mathematics Common Core Standards. Every year, with the help of parent volunteers, educators, and subject matter experts, new and exciting challenges are designed for student teams to solve.
Any students grades 1st through 12th can participate in WCDI. Contact Brenda Sosa, Destination Imagination Coordinator, at West Central Hartford Elementary. After your child has registered by October 1st, parents may access the official West Central Destination Imagination website by clicking on the following link, http://westcentraldi.shutterfly.com/.
