When creativity, collaboration and problem-solving skills are becoming more important to Future of Work jobs, over 400 students came to build those skills at Southern New Hampshire University’s main campus on Saturday. The students, from grades 2 through 12, are part of the N.H. Destination Imagination competition program and took part in the training ahead of their March tournaments.
“Today is about preparing teams with the skills the need to solve complex STEAM centric Challenges across science, technology, engineering the arts math or social entrepreneurship,”, according to Jenna Caputo, one of the co-coordinators of the event – and an alumna of the program who was on teams in Londonderry. “We have sessions that build our team members ability to work as a team, do so creatively, build skills to last a lifetime, and create something amazing that solves their chosen challenge for competition.”
“Global corporations and economic organizations are increasingly spotlighting the need for creativity, collaboration, strategic thinking and problem-solving as part of the Future of Work”, according to Wayne Kurtzman, volunteer marketing director. “The addition of the arts, and interpersonal skills, as we’ve been doing for decades, helps position Destination Imagination well for helping meet that need in New Hampshire.”
Training sessions includes theatrical and presentation skills, prop construction, visual arts, solution generation, technology usage, engineering principals and more.
Nearly 1,800 students on some 200 teams around the state will compete in Destination Imagination tournaments around the state in March and April, with the top teams advancing to compete with teams from 48 states and 30 countries at Destination Imagination Global Finals in May.
New Hampshire Destination Imagination is a Granite State based 501(c)3 non-profit and also runs Camp Gottalikachallenge. Learn more at www.nh-di.org.