District sends record 11 Destination Imagination teams to state
Northwest ISD will send a record-setting 11 Destination Imagination teams to the state tournament following a strong showing at the recent Greater Fort Worth Regional Tournament on February 25.
Destination Imagination cultivates students’ creativity, courage, and curiosity through open-ended academic challenges in the fields of STEM, fine arts and service learning. Team members learn patience, flexibility, persistence, ethics, respect for others and their ideas, and the collaborative problem-solving process. This year, 67 teams represented Northwest ISD at the regional level, including elementary, middle and high school students.
The tournament is composed of a Central Challenge, which the team has worked on since October, and an Instant Challenge. The two scores are combined and teams are ranked, 1st through 6th place within their challenge and age group. Forty-eight NISD teams medaled at this year’s tournament. Schools with teams that placed include Medlin, Tidwell, Adams, Wilson, Byron Nelson, Northwest, Lakeview, Roanoke, JC Thompson, Beck, Lance Thompson, Granger, Lizzie Curtis, Seven Hills, Schluter, Hughes, Sendera Ranch, and Cox.
A total of 48 district teams earned a medal, with 11 advancing to the Lone Star Finals Tournament on March 25 in Arlington, Texas. Four high school teams have advanced to the state tournament: Fire Breathing Rubber Ducks (Byron Nelson), Oompa Loompas (Byron Nelson), Ultimate Skeleton Dragons (Northwest), and the Hexanauts (Byron Nelson). Both the Ultimate Skeleton Dragons and the Hexanauts competed and placed in two different team challenges. Two teams from Medlin have advanced to Lone Star Finals: Wait . . . What?? and Ms. Mandy’s Story. The Flippin’ Chickens from Wilson and Petrified Pickles from Adams will also be competing at the state level. The Wabbits from Lakeview and Just Here for the Snacks from J.C. Thompson are the advancing elementary teams.
Additionally, the Banana Bunches from Adams, Oompa Loompas and Fire Breathing Rubber Ducks from Byron Nelson, Ms. Mandy's Story and Your Worse Nightmare from Medlin, and the Ultimate Skeleton Dragons from Northwest earned the highest Instant Challenge score in their division. Elementary teams earning high IC include Dumpster Fire from JC Thompson and Rockin’ Rangers from Roanoke.
The GFW Regional Tournament included the Rising Stars Challenge as well. Rising Stars is the non-competitive division for kindergarten through second grade students. Northwest ISD had twenty-two teams participate this year and they all celebrated with time in the Ta Da Room.
Awards & Recognitions
The following students earned the Magellan Award – Kurt Ippolitto, William Thornell, Riley Tucciarone, and Ayden Lalani. The Magellan Award is awarded to students who participate in all six challenges over the course of their DI career. The award encourages team members to try new and different ideas, to explore different skills, to think outside the box – or to convert the box into something else entirely. Named after Ferdinand Magellan, the first person to circumnavigate the globe, it reflects the continued striving to reach the stars – and even beyond to the galaxies of the Magellanic Clouds.
Byron Nelson senior Ryder Fine was awarded both The Jo Williams Scholarship and Karen Crawford Memorial Scholarship from the GFW DI Regional Board.
The Walls That May Fall from Kay Granger Elementary were awarded the Spirit of DI award. This award is given to a team who goes out of their way to help others, often by making sacrifices. These members of our community demonstrate outstanding and extraordinary levels of sportsmanship, volunteerism and spirit.
Ms. Mandy's Story from Medlin were given the Renaissance Award which recognizes those who demonstrate extraordinary amounts of effort and preparation in their solutions or outstanding skill in engineering, design or performance. While the destination is creativity, these fellow travelers make the journey itself memorable.
For more information on Destination Imagination, visit www.idodi.org. For details on the State Tournament, visit www.texasdi.org. Looking for some summer fun? Join us at Pike MS for our Creative Problem Solving Camp the week of June 26.
Campus |
Team Name |
Level |
Results |
Awards |
State Results |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Challenge A |
|||||
Lakeview |
The Wabbits |
Elementary |
2nd |
Going to State |
|
Roanoke |
Rockin' Rangers |
Elementary |
3rd |
High IC |
|
JCT |
Smokey Bricksters |
Elementary |
4th |
||
Beck |
Thunderbirds |
Elementary |
5th |
||
Challenge B |
|||||
JCT |
Just Here for the Snacks! |
Elementary |
2nd |
Going to State |
|
Lance |
Masters of Creativity |
Elementary |
3rd |
|
|
Adams
|
The Dagalofiperema Experience |
Middle |
3rd |
|
|
BNHS |
Cumberland Crumblers |
Secondary |
2nd |
||
NHS |
Jeradillo |
Secondary |
3rd |
||
Challenge C |
|||||
Granger |
The Walls That May Fall |
Elementary |
3rd |
Spirit of DI |
|
Curtis |
Atychiphobia |
Elementary |
5th |
|
|
Medlin |
Ms. Mandy's Story |
Middle |
1st |
High IC |
Going to State |
Wilson |
Flippin' Chickens |
Middle |
2nd |
|
Going to State |
BNHS |
Oompa Loompas |
Secondary |
1st |
High IC |
Going to State |
BNHS |
Carpet |
Secondary |
2nd |
||
Challenge D |
|||||
JCT |
Dumpster Fire |
Elementary |
5th |
High IC |
|
Roanoke |
The Super Underdog Sisters |
Elementary |
6th |
|
|
Adams |
Petrified Pickles |
Middle |
2nd |
Going to State |
|
Adams |
The Banana Bunches |
Middle |
3rd |
High IC |
|
Adams |
Licketysplit |
Middle |
5th |
|
|
BNHS |
Hexanauts |
Secondary |
1st (tie) |
Going to State |
|
NHS |
Ultimate Skeleton Dragons 1 |
Secondary |
1st (tie) |
Going to State |
|
BNHS
|
Fire Breathing Rubber Ducks 1 |
Secondary |
4th |
|
|
BNHS |
Loompa Oompas |
Secondary |
5th (tie) |
||
Challenge E |
|||||
Seven Hills |
Sour Patch Sharks |
Elementary |
3rd |
|
|
Beck |
The Whimsical Whoppers |
Elementary |
4th |
|
|
Schluter |
The Automakers |
Elementary |
4th |
|
|
Hughes |
The Rolling Hedgehogs |
Elementary |
5th |
|
|
Roanoke |
Ranger Homies |
Elementary |
5th |
|
|
SRE |
The Seven |
Elementary |
6th |
|
|
Granger |
Santa's Stallions |
Elementary |
6th |
|
|
Medlin |
Wait . . . What?? |
Middle |
2nd |
Going to State |
|
Medlin |
Insert Team Name Here |
Middle |
3rd |
||
Medlin |
Golden Girls + A Guy |
Middle |
4th |
||
Tidwell |
Tiny Tyrannosaurus |
Middle |
6th |
||
BNHS
|
Fire Breathing Rubber Ducks 2 |
Secondary |
1st |
High IC |
Going to State |
NHS |
Crime Brulee |
Secondary |
2nd |
||
Project Outreach |
|||||
Seven Hills |
Name Not Found (203) |
Elementary |
5th |
||
SRE |
The Mavericks |
Elementary |
6th |
||
Medlin |
Your Worse Nightmare |
Middle |
2nd |
High IC |
|
Tidwell |
Helping Hands |
Middle |
3rd |
|
|
NHS |
Ultimate Skeleton Dragons |
Secondary |
1st |
High IC |
Going to State |