Leander ISD Destination Imagination (DI) teams had another incredible year participating in DI and competing at the Global Finals May 20-23 in Kansas City, with Bush Elementary’s “Crazy Yet Children” winning the gold medal in the Engineering Challenge, and Vandegrift High School claiming the silver in the Fine Arts Challenge.
“Getting to experience DI this year has allowed me to explore my creativity and make amazing things I never would’ve even considered creating otherwise,” Hope Nielson, a seventh grader from the CRMS “Banana Split” team, said. “For example, I learned how to sculpt puppets’ faces using just graph paper, masking tape and paper mache. I also got the chance to improve my acting skills, as well as my painting abilities. Overall, DI has allowed me to be extremely creative and obtain many new skills!”
DI tournaments utilize a three-level, playoff-like system. First, the regional tournament is held in February. The teams that advance move on to the state or national tournament at the end of March or beginning of April. Finally, the teams that advance from that second round of competition qualify for the Global Finals.
Congratulations to all LISD Destination Imagination participants and competitors for a fantastic year of challenges and creativity!
Fine Arts Challenge
Middle Level
“Pluto Punk” – Canyon Ridge MS
Team Members: Isla Riley, Sophie Haney, Sana Raja, Avinash Dewaggen, Jack Martin, Sanjay Vu, Claire Archer
Team Manager: Bob Riley
“Canyon Ridge Middle School” – Canyon Ridge MS
Team Members: Dante Leffler, Sunaina Dewagan, Siri Krishna, Shanyu Suraparaju, Ronith Reddy, Chris Bargiel
Team Manager: Jacob Leffler
Secondary Level
“Vandegrift High School #1″ – Vandegrift HS
Team Members: Rachel Reynolds, Samu Jayaprakash, Xavier Leffler, Gigi Suresh, Adi Suresh, Adrian Rapier, Rishika Mudundi
Team Managers: Cindy Reynolds; Jacob Leffler
Service Learning Challenge
Secondary Level
“Vandegrift HS #3” – Vandegrift HS
Team Members: Mary Bahrami, Shreya Poladia, Brooke Boykin, Kaitlyn Boykin
Team Manager: Angie Boykin
Scientific Challenge
Elementary Level
“Mighty Mustangs” – Parkside ES
Team Members: Rutva Gaddale, Reyansh G. Nighojkar, Sreenandana Kamaltathil Saril, Khairav Akkinepally, Tarun Praveen, Arushri Prakash, Rishabh Nahar
Team Manager: Hemanth Gaddale
Engineering Challenge
Elementary Level
“Seven Shooting Stars” – Whitestone ES
Team Members: Siddharth Vazhkudai, Max Barnard, Preston Helton, Cadence De Torres, Aria De Torres, Advika Suraj, Emma Choi
Team Managers: Meichihko Barnard; Sowmyashree Sundarajan
“Crazy Yeti Children” – Bush ES
Team Members: Nolan Shaw, Rush Bartlett, Justin Vell,Vincent Chen, Anne Countway, Anaisha Roy, Dravin Sankar
Team Managers: Ning Shao; Rush Bartlett
