By Sarah Stoesz
Hamilton Southeastern students are winning global awards in a program called Destination Imagination.
On May 27, HSE students competed in the Destination Imagination global finals at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. The middle school team of thirteen year olds called the Super Duper Cranium Movers placed second. This is the third year in a row the team has placed second. The elementary school team of 10-year-olds placed thirteenth and received a da Vinci award for exceptional creativity.
“We’ve never won one of those so that was HSE history making right there,” said Kathleen Seitz, Destination Imagination Coordinator.
Students receive the challenges on July 31. They then meet twice a week for nine months to prepare for the state, regional, and global competitions.
“This is student-designed, student-organized, and student-executed,” said Seitz. “They are totally in charge if they fail or succeed.”
In addition to creating a structure, the students have to perform an eight minute skit to go along with the challenge. This helps to build leadership skills and confidence, said Brian Mann, co-manager for both of the award winning teams. Mann’s sons Ben and Nick are on each of the award winning teams. Ben Mann has participated in Destination Imagination since fourth grade.
“I just saw a lot of leadership skills and he didn’t really have an outlet to develop those leadership skills before,” he said. “It’s his primary extra-curricular activity and he loves every second of it.”
HSE has been involved in Destination Imagination for nineteen years. Students can participate in Destination Imagination from third grade through college, Seitz said.
“We’ve had kids become prom dates with kids from other states, lifelong friends, and some of them are in college and are still going to globals and reconnecting with those kids,” she said.
At the global competition in Knoxville, HSE students competed against about 80 teams in each division. Over 20 other countries were represented at the global finals, said Destination Imagination parent Michelle Jeschke.
“While the kids are there they are watching other teams and our kids were playing games with kids from other countries,” she said.
HSE was one of the only school systems in the region that participates in Destination Imagination, Seitz said.
“There is nobody in Indiana that is represented like HSE, and I would say, probably across the country,” she said. “There is not one school corporation that had as many winners as we did.”
