Sixty two teams of problem solvers gathered in the Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) Freshman Center to compete in the regional Destination Imagination competition.

Destination Imagination is an international competition that works on solving problems for kids. Teams of seven students are able to choose one of seven issues to solve from different categories including technical, fine arts, science, and more. After putting together a solution, the team presents it at the different competitions. Each challenge has its own specifications on what is necessary to present at the competition. The highest level of competition is the Global Finals which hosts 20,000 students from the U.S.A. and 22 other countries around the world.

At the March 9 competition, 16 HSE district teams participated. Eleven of the HSE teams (composed of students from all over the district) will move on to the state competition being held at HSE High School on April 13 according to HSEJH wellness teacher and HSE district Destination Imagination coordinator Kristy Seitz. Seitz has worked as a school coordinator since 1995 and has enjoyed watching students grow from being a part of this program.

“[Destination Imagination] changes kids’ lives. It gives them a creative outlet like they may have not experienced before,” Seitz said. “Ownership of the challenge solution is very empowering for students. There are roles for lots of different students in Destination Imagination and those roles change as students feel empowered to tackle new challenges.”

Check out www.idodi.org for more information on Destination Imagination.