Seven CISD teams advance to Destination Imagination's Global Finals

THE WOODLANDS, Texas--After winning honors for creativity, teamwork and problem solving in regional and state tournaments, seven teams from Conroe ISD will compete in Destination Imagination's Global Finals, the largest creative thinking and problem solving competition in the world, to be held May 21-24 in Knoxville, TN. Five teams are from the Academy of Science and Technology at College Park High School, one is a sixth grade team from Collins Intermediate and one is a fifth/sixth grade team from Wilkerson Intermediate.

They will compete with other teams in one of seven, open-ended challenges that require young people to apply science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), in addition to improvisation, theater arts, writing, project management, communication, innovation, teamwork and community service.

"I can’t wait to go to Globals so I can show what we have worked so hard on for the past 8 months. I am also looking forward to meeting people from all over the world and seeing their solutions to the challenges,” said sixth grade team member Joseph Cahill.

Destination Imagination has had a positive impact on more than 1.5 million young people and adults who have benefitted from taking part in its acclaimed Challenge Program. This year, another 100,000 young people have competed in tournaments throughout the U.S. and in 30 countries to earn a spot at the Global Finals competition in May.

These teams are among more than 8,000 students representing more than 1,250 teams that will advance to Global Finals, which will be held at the University of Tennessee.

“The Destination Imagination Program allows students K-College to learn and experience the creative process. Quantitative reasoning, problem solving, risk taking, collaboration, presentations and thinking on your feet are some of the important skills learned in the program,” said Chuck Cadle, CEO of Destination Imagination.

Destination Imagination is an educational program where student teams are immersed in the creative process needed to solve open-ended challenges, and then present their solutions at regional and state tournaments. If they win at those levels, they may receive an invitation to Global Finals.

“The DI competition requires students to work through some very demanding critical thinking and problem solving assignments that strengthen our educational systems by enhancing the learning processes taking place in the classroom,” declared Cadle. “We’ve seen the development of superior aptitudes in analytical thinking, leadership, project management, teamwork, communication, research and innovation in hundreds of thousands of youth since our organization’s inception almost three decades ago, and we believe Destination Imagination has the potential to bridge the gap between what is taught in our schools and the thinking skills our youth will need to succeed in the world of the future.”

Competing in the Structure Challenge from the AST: Sarah Ray, Emily Luomala, Kasthuri Nair, Anna Piprek, Joseph Robbins, Hailey Cassidy, and Austin Lignieres.

Competing in the Scientific Challenge from AST: Andrew Cahill,Emily Shen, Sarah Mohamed, Nicole Chin, Paulome Strivastava, Victoria Youngblood, and Erik Young.

Competing in the Technical Challenge from AST: Makenzie Higdon, Anna Cunningham, Caroline Booth, Jack Overbeck, Aaron Mahajan, and Rachel Marlow.

Also competing in the Technical Challenge from AST: Aditya Iyer, Yashi Prasad, Sania Zia, Daniel Pallares, Claire Skinner, and~Kathleen Cahill.

Competing in the Fine Arts Challenge from AST: Collin Bryant, Tess Volanski, Jack Dimpel, Priya Strivastava, Heather Morriss, Kennedy Stirling, and Wenting Chang.

Competing in the Scientific Challenge, middle school level from Collins Intermediate: Joseph Cahill, Jeannette Dimpel, Abby Onofrio, Caroline Batton and Colin Sundin.

Competing in the Technical Challenge, middle school level from Wilkerson Intermediate: Rheanna Caron, Alexander Chamberlain, Christopher Champberlain, and Talal Rashid.

Conroe ISD is proud to have these students represent the District at Global Finals!