Destination Imagination
Holliston students used their imaginations at regional tournament. Some students wore togas, others wore robot arms and others wore costumes made out of duct tape. All of them wore thinking caps, as they participated in the Region 7 Destination Imagination Tournament in Douglas, MA, on Saturday, March 19.
L-R Stephen Adelman, Curtis Lim, Max Johnson, Megan Gentile
Destination Imagination (DI) is a non-profit educational program that encourages teamwork, creativity and problem solving. Every year, 100,000 students across the United States and in more than thirty countries work together to solve one of six open-ended team challenges and then present their solution at a tournament. DI Teams are challenged to think on their feet, work together as a team and use their imagination to create original solutions that satisfy the requirements of each challenge. The tournament competition also includes an Instant Challenge, in which each team has to improvise together to complete a surprise task.
Holliston High School Junior Ryan Meltzer has been participating in DI since fourth grade. This year he was not only a team member, but also, along with Holliston High School Junior, Christina Belforti, a team manager for a fifth grade team that has advanced to the state tournament. “The most important thing I learned from DI is that being a team member means you have to respect different opinions and to recognize when someone else’s idea may be better than your own,” said Meltzer. “It is incredible to watch my fifth graders go through the same thing I did and watch them grow together as a team. “
Holliston had eleven teams participate in this year’s Regional Tournament – two High School, four Middle School and five Elementary School teams. Our High School team participating in the Verses Foiled Again challenge built a 14.2 gram structure out of wood and glue that held 195 pounds. The elementary school team in the same challenge had a 25 gram structure that held 180 pounds.
Our Triple Take Road Show teams had to write and perform the same story to three different audiences using three different storytelling methods. Our Mythology Mission Teams spent months researching different mythical creatures in different cultures and then had five minutes to prepare an improvisational skit based on one culture they researched. In the middle of their performance, an additional improvisational element was added as they came across an expected problem. The day concluded in Olympic style as each town paraded into the gym for the awards ceremony.
Of the eleven teams, six teams placed, and three teams will be moving on to the State Tournament at WPI in Worcester on March 26. Congratulations to Ryan Meltzer and Christina Belforti’s Elementary Triple Take Road Show Team (Nicole Slade, Maria Gentile, Jenna Pralat, Lara Cunningham, Joshua Cagan and Matthew Glazer), Kristine Perlmutter’s Middle School Mythology Mission Team (Joshua Perlmutter, Kent Perlmutter, Ryan Cahill, James Crews Abby Meltzer and Arianna Ameli), and Kathy Skerry’s High School Verses Foiled Again Team (Stephanie Skerry, Alicia Skerry, Adam Meltzer, Julianna Stevenson, Gaby Garvey, Jessica Lamb, Danielle Lamb). In addition, Mindee Meltzer’s High School Mythology Mission Team (Alex Frieband, Cam Chisholm, Brianna Fierro, Rebecca Sirull and Ryan Meltzer) earned a Spirit of DI Award for the work they did organizing and running the Instant Challenge and Dress Rehearsal Days that helped prepare all of the teams for the tournament.
The Holliston Destination Imagination teams do Holliston proud every year. They have incredible positive spirit, show great sportsmanship and show off their talents. Holliston DI is sponsored by the Holliston PTSA. For more information about Holliston Destination Imagination, contact Mindee Meltzer at mindeemeltzer@verizon.net or Kristine Perlmutter at kristineperlmutter@hotmail.com.