VCU sponsors problem-solving challenge for K-12 students

By Malorie Burkett

RICHMOND, Va. – More than 2,500 students, parents and teachers from around the state will converge at Virginia Commonwealth University on April 24 for the state finals tournament of the annual Destination ImagiNation competition.

The contest has been sponsored by the VCU Alumni Association for the past eight years, and is part of an international program that teaches life skills and expands imaginations. Through team-based creative problem solving, the competition promotes creativity in students from kindergarten through college age.

"The competition teaches teamwork, self-confidence and creativity, while fostering problem-solving skills in all types of students, including those with learning disabilities," said Susan Nunemaker, M.E.D, affiliate director of Virginia Destination ImagiNation and retired guidance counselor at Dinwiddie Middle School. "Although many students excel creatively, few education systems focus on teaching creative thinking. In this challenge, all children can succeed."

The program will be held at several locations on VCU's Academic Campus throughout the day, and will offer two components: instant challenges and team challenges. Instant challenges spark imagination, risk-taking, time-awareness and cooperation by requiring team members to solve a challenge in less than five minutes, using random materials and verbal responses. During the team challenge, each team chooses to solve one of five challenges using art, technology, performance and real-world experiences. This challenge, which was given to the team in the fall, may take weeks or months to develop.

Some of this year's challenges will include building a timing device and showing what could happen if the children were in charge of time; creating a theatrical presentation that features two original stories -- they begin the same way, but they split along the way and have different endings; and creating an original, three-dimensional cartoon story, complete with costumes and characters that come to life with team-generated sound and visual special effects.

More than a hundred teams from school districts all over the state will compete in the state finals. Those in the Richmond area include cities of Richmond and Colonial Heights, Henrico and Goochland counties.

"The tournament offers students throughout Virginia a wonderful opportunity to meet participants of all ages while learning skills that will help them throughout their lives," said Diane Stout-Brown, interim director of VCU Alumni Activities. "Through sponsorship of this activity, VCU hopes to encourage overall college attendance by showing students the range of opportunities available at VCU."

Destination ImagiNation is a non-profit corporation supported by affiliates from around the world and offers a global, youth-centered creative program through various levels of tournaments that allow participants to demonstrate their problem-solving skills. Seven-member student teams from 44 states and 11 countries worldwide - including China, Canada, the United Kingdom and Brazil - will participate in this year's competitions from around the world. National sponsors include the National Dairy Council, Best Buy and 3M. Micron Technology is a corporate sponsor in Virginia and other states.

The final competition will be held at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville from May 26-29, where more than 800 teams from across the world will compete. For information on Richmond events, visit www.alumni.vcu.edu/DI.