Remembering Brenda September 26, 2023 - With a heavy heart, we share the news of the passing of a beloved NH-DI member and supporter, Brenda Chase. Many of us knew her from her countless creative years supporting and coaching us through the Spontaneous/Instant Challenge portion of competitions. She lived a creative, compassionate, caring, and connected life sharing her joy with so… (more...)
Unleash Creativity: The 2023-24 Year Begins August 17, 2023 - New Hampshire Destination Imagination (NH-DI) is ready to start its 42nd year of creative problem-based learning programs for students pre-k through college. Here is a fresh batch of Challenges for the 2023-2024 program year. In all, over 125,000 students have taken part in our programs - and are now alumni of the program. Many come… (more...)
Great Times: Camp Gottalikachallenge August 17, 2023 - Thank you to all the campers and staff of the amazing Camp Gottalikachallenge! This year, camp was held at two different locations. You can find photos from this year's camp on the Camp Gottalikachallenge Facebook page. The week of camp is a mix of outdoor activities and classic summer camp fun, combined with the more… (more...)
NH Rocks Globals; Bedford, Jaffrey, Derry Academic Teams Hit Global Top 15 May 23, 2023 - Three of the eight teams representing New Hampshire at Destination Imagination Global Finals reached the top 15 in the world: Conant High School in Jaffrey (7th place), Riddle Brook School from Bedford (9th place with a special top award), and Pinkerton Academy in Derry (12th place). Auburn Village School finished in 17th. NH-DI saw strong… (more...)
NH Teams Head to Destination Imagination Global Finals May 18, 2023 - Teams heading to Global Finals come from Auburn, Bedford, Bow, Canaan, Derry, Hooksett, Jaffrey and Meredith. Student teams in New Hampshire have been working since the fall to build creativity, collaboration, problem-solving and other Future of Work skills. This weekend, eight of the over 100 N.H. Destination Imagination teams will head to Destination Imagination Global… (more...)All Recent Articles
- Remembering Brenda (9/26/2023)
- Unleash Creativity: The 2023-24 Year Begins (8/17/2023)
- Great Times: Camp Gottalikachallenge (8/17/2023)
- NH Rocks Globals; Bedford, Jaffrey, Derry Academic Teams Hit Global Top 15 (5/23/2023)
- NH Teams Head to Destination Imagination Global Finals (5/18/2023)
- Ice Cream Spoils Dinner, Not Creativity, as NH Teams Head to Global Competition (5/12/2023)
- Peek at the 2023-2024 Challenges (4/15/2023)
- Release: 27 NH Teams Advance to Global Creativity Academic Tournament (3/25/2023)
- 27 NH Teams Advance to Global Creativity Academic Tournament (3/25/2023)
- 51 STEAM Creativity Teams Head to States on Saturday (3/21/2023)
- Release: NH STEAM Teams Compete to Advance to Global Creativity Tournament (3/21/2023)
- 27 Teams Advance to State Finals from NH Northern Regional in Meredith (3/18/2023)
- Release: 27 Creative Problem-Solving Teams Advance to NH Destination Imagination State Finals Saturday (3/18/2023)
- Meredith Regional Tournament on Saturday (3/14/2023)
- Saturday: Week 2 of Creative STEAM Regional Tournament in Meredith (3/14/2023)
What is Destination Imagination?
Destination Imagination is a non-profit, volunteer-led, cause-driven organization. Its purpose is to inspire and equip students to become the next generation of innovators and leaders. Approximately 200,000 youth make friends and learn the creative process through DI programs every year, and are supported by nearly 40,000 volunteers.
Destination Imagination’s programs 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, DI designs new and exciting Challenges for student teams to solve.
How the DI Challenge Program Works
DI fosters students’ curiosity, courage and creativity as they solve Challenges together as a team. A big part of our program is the Interference policy: in short, kids have to imagine, create and develop solutions on their own. Parents, Team Managers, family and friends can’t suggest ideas or force teams in certain directions. Outsiders can only facilitate the acquisition of skills and knowledge.
There are seven new Challenges to choose from each year. Each of the Challenges is developed by a team of educators and industry experts who target a particular area of the curriculum and its related standards of content and performance. The areas of focus include: Technical, Scientific, Fine Arts, Improvisational, Structural and Service Learning. There is also a non-competitive Early Learning Challenge that allows children to further develop their social skills and nurtures their curiosity and creativity.
The season takes place from September through May. Depending on the Challenge, teams typically spend 2 to 4 months developing and practicing their Challenge solutions. While most schools run DI as an after school program, some school districts incorporate the program into their electives curriculum.
After weeks spent creating and developing their solutions, the team solutions are assessed at regional, state, or international tournaments. Our tournaments provide the opportunity for participants to celebrate creativity with their peers and promote healthy competition. Every year, local volunteers help run 200 tournaments around the world. Top-scoring teams advance to their state or country tournament, also known as an Affiliate Tournament. The top tier teams from each Affiliate Tournament have the opportunity to participate in Global Finals—the world’s largest celebration of creativity.
Participants learn and experience the creative process from imagination to innovation, which fosters their curiosity, courage and creativity. Students in our program learn higher order thinking and improve in creative and critical thinking while learning to work together as a team. Participants also have the opportunity to develop new friendships with students around the world.
How You Can Get Started
The volunteers on NH-DI’s Outreach Committee will answer any questions that you have about our programs. We can also send NH-DI representatives to help run a DI Information Night at your school.