Bring NYDI
to Your Classroom, School, or District
We believe Destination Imagination can benefit every New York student.
Destination Imagination is an easy and cost-effective way to complement school curriculum for students throughout grades K-12 and at the university level. DI’s Challenges, tournaments, and overall process are designed to teach students 21st century skills—equipping them to become creative problem solvers, critical thinkers, confident leaders, and flexible team players.
This unique program gets students to experience firsthand that more diverse teams produce better solutions. Through participation in DI, students learn to collaborate and develop mutual respect for other people and ideas that may be different from their own. These skills will help promote anti-bullying in your school(s).
DI encourages kids to have fun, take risks, work with others, and identify each individual’s personal strengths. Our Challenges are engaging, fun, and inclusive. Each student is empowered to find their place within the team and display their unique abilities and talents in ways they may never have imagined.
DI has been studied and proven to equip the next generation.
DI is a cross-disciplinary project-based learning resource created and validated by educators and content experts. Researchers from the University of Virginia Curry School of Education conducted an independent research evaluation of the DI program. The evaluation focused on the program’s effectiveness, impact, and participant satisfaction in areas relating to creative problem solving, creative and critical thinking, teamwork, and leadership. Among other findings, the researchers reported, “Students who participated in the activities and tournaments provided by DI outperformed comparable students who had not participated in DI on assessments measuring creative thinking, critical thinking, and collaborative problem solving.”
The best part is, students love it! DI has been in operation for decades and has more than 1 million alumni worldwide.
“My children are stronger adults because of the skills they learned being involved in DI. They can think through challenges in life and make decisions. If they make a mistake, they know they can try again. Every child should have this opportunity.”Elaine Hackford, DI Parent and Team Manager
Ready to introduce DI to your classroom, school or district?
Form a team today or become a school or district coordinator!
The Power of DI as a Teaching Tool:
- DI can either be made a part of your classroom curriculum or introduced as an after school activity to complement your curriculum in a synergistic way. DI supports both Common Core and Next Generation Science Standards.
- While many educational programs focus primarily on STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) subject matter, Destination Imagination incorporates a wider range of subjects, adding Art and Service Learning components to the formula. Say hello to STEAMS!
- DI helps to close the achievement gap by encouraging teamwork between students of various backgrounds, which can improve the performance of all students in classroom activities.
- DI builds confidence in students by empowering them to work independently and experience mistakes as a healthy step towards a successful result.
- DI is successfully being used in ESL classrooms nationwide, encouraging all students to read and think in English to solve fun and engaging challenges.
- Dr. Mark A. Runco, Professor of Educational Psychology for the Torrance Creativity Center at the University of Georgia, completed a study measuring student engagement and creative attitudes and values among students who participate in Destination Imagination and students who do not. According to the statistically significant results, Destination Imagination students were found to be:
- More engaged and imaginative when completing given tasks
- More creative than non-DI participants
- More self-confident and tenacious than non-DI participants
- Better at generating and elaborating on ideas than non-DI participants
- Better collaborators—86% of DI participants agree that their teamwork skills improved within 1-2 years of participation
I'm in!
How do I bring this awesome program to my students?
Ready to introduce your students to the world of DI? You can form a team (or teams!) at any time, and if you’d like to share the responsibility of Team Manager with a parent, fellow educator, or other volunteer, teaming up is accepted and encouraged! To support multiple teams at a school or district without directly managing them, you can become a School or District DI Coordinator. You can also contact your Regional Director for tips and resources to get a school or district-wide DI program up and running.
If you’re looking for activities to lead with your students right away, DI’s Free Resource Library has classroom activities, information on the creative process, Instant Challenges, and other teaching tools you can start using today!
