The Student Voice of El Dorado High School

Aztec Gold Online News

Aztec Gold Online News

Aztec Gold Online News

Take your imagination to new places with this club

Take+your+imagination+to+new+places+with+this+club

Destination Imagination
By Ernesto De Haro

Tick, tock, tick, tock…

Time is running and ideas are rushing as seven students work to create a bridge that can support golf balls with only one piece of paper, a stick of gum, 4 straws and a pair of scissors. They must finish construction in five minutes or less. If that wasn’t enough, the team also must create a story with a beginning and an end that involves the bridge and makes it the focus of solving a major world problem. Sound challenging? You bet.

 

For the students in Destination Imagination, this is just another meet. Overcoming stress and frustration, they work together and expand their imagination to impress the judges and take first place for the Aztec Empire.

 

“It’s all or nothing. Only first place advances to state competition and we are shooting for the top,” said Destination Imagination Sponsor Antonio Castruita.

 

D.I., which is a non-profit organization, lives by the motto “where can your imagination take you?” The competitions consist of seven open-ended challenges that teach students, from kindergarten to university, about the creative process from imagination to innovation.

 

El Dorado Aztecs D.I. teams are taking on the Engineering Challenge this year and hope to also be able to participate in a second challenge to grant them a better opportunity to win and move on to state. The Engineering Challenge “asks teams to design, build and test-load bearing structures out of specific materials.”

 

The teams consist of well-rounded individuals who are very confident and creative. They love to act, innovate, and have fun.

 

“D.I. took most of my life for the past seven years. It allows me to be someone that I’m not like in school,” said Brianna Romero, the leader and recruiter of the D.I. team.

 

Destination Imagination has opened doors for many students, allowing them to get out of their comfort zone and expand their creativity beyond what anybody can imagine. From using acting skills to put on plays about complex problems, to construction challenges, only the best improvisers and fast-thinkers move on in competition.

 

“D.I. is a special club in the sense that it puts students in a situation were they can actually challenge themselves and there is very minimal teacher interaction,” Castruita said.

 

In D.I. there are no barriers to your imagination. It is the only place where fairy tales and dragons can demonstrate solving real challenges. The ultimate prize is a scholarship.

 

“Outgoing, willing to try new things and very well rounded,” said Romero about the qualities they are looking for in potential team members.

 

If you are interested in joining, make your way to D207 and ask for more information. You can also visit www.destinationimagination.org.

More to Discover