LEONARDTOWN, Md. (March 12, 2009)—On March 21, 16 teams from seven schools in St. Mary's County Public Schools (SMCPS) will participate in the regional tournament for Destination Imagination (DI). While some schools have participated independently from SMCPS, this is the first year the school system will have broad representation at the tournament.
Destination Imagination is an international creative problem solving program in which students work together as part of a team of five, six, or seven to develop a solution to one of six different challenges, which they perform in front of appraisers at tournaments. DI is being implemented as part of a system-wide STEM for All effort to expand science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) skills for students in all schools.
DI participants develop life skills while solving challenges through their unique hands-on experiences in the sciences, technology, mechanics, engineering, theater, improvisation, goal setting, time and budget management, team building, and leadership.
The program is being funded in SMCPS by a STEM grant initiative supported by U.S. Congressman Steny Hoyer.
Over 70 students, representing Benjamin Banneker Elementary, George Washington Carver Elementary, Leonardtown Elementary, Lexington Park Elementary, Piney Point Elementary, Esperanza Middle, and Spring Ridge Middle, will compete in the South Central Regional Tournament at South River High School in Edgewater, MD (Anne Arundel County), on March 21. Sixty-eight teams from the region are competing for the opportunity to advance to the state finals in April. The Global Finals will take place in May.
For more information or to obtain the regional tournament schedule, visit http://www.marylanddi.org/ .