In early September, the Destination Imagination season began for nearly 20,000 Texas students and 120,000 students from 44 four other states and 30 countries. For the past seven months, every one of these 140,000 students have worked to compete on the greatest DI stage of all......Global Finals.

 

In March, 201 teams, made up of  approximately 1,400 students,  competed in the Regional Tournament in Mesquite.  Greenville ISD teams faced teams from the East Region, comprised of 19 districts, including Mesquite, Sunnyvale, Royse City, Sulphur Springs, Dekalb, Rice, Chapel Hill, Lindale, Crandall, Redwater, Mount Pleasant, Mt. Vernon, North Hopkins and several independent teams.  At the conclusion of that tournament, six of the 19 teams from GISD qualified for the State Tournament, more than any other district in our region.

 

At the State Tournament in Corpus Christi this past weekend, GISD students competed against the State qualifiers from the other 16 regions in Texas.  At the tournament, 3500 students competed for the chance to advance to the Global Finals.  Of the 6 GISD teams that competed, four will advance to the Global Finals held May 21-25. Of the 20,000 students from Texas that started the DI journey in August, only 980 will represent Texas, with 23 of those coming from Greenville.   These 23 students are coached by five school employees and four community volunteers.

 

These students are the best of the best, and they represent EVERY campus in the district. They are involved in nearly every school activity including Student Council (2 students serve as the president for their campus), band, athletics, Suzuki Strings, choir, Friends of Rachel, and FFA, just to name a few.   Students also excel academically, with many students being named to their campus honor roll as well as being recognized as a  Superintendent's Scholar.  This year alone, two of our students have been selected to attend the TAMU-Commerce Honors College.

 

“Destination Imagination is a program that is often hard to explain ... simply put, it is the ultimate project management." shared Emily Duke, GISD DI Coordinator. "It’s a beautiful combination of Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts and Math. Our students manage time and resources, find a way to not just work under incredible pressure but to work together as a team.  They have learned the unique skill to seek out and nurture the best qualities in others. They are what makes my job the very best!"