DI tournamemt

Oh my goodness! Our team did a phenomenal job and claimed first place out of 18 teams at the Regional Competition! I was so proud of these kids, and so thankful for all the parents who volunteered to assist that day. It was a crazy whirlwind of a day, but they had such a great time. 

Here are some glimpses of the day:

This picture was taken immediately after their performance. The blue ribbons in this picture are not official DI ribbons since the award ceremony had not occurred yet. I like to give my team blue ribbons during a morning pep talk the day of competition, and just let them know how I think they are already winners no matter what the judges decide. They've grown SO much this year and I wanted them to feel proud of their accomplishments. They learned so much and overcame so many obstacles this year, and I like giving them a ribbon to wear under their costume- it gives them a mental/emotional high that carries over to their performance. They LOVED wearing these around all day. (Many thanks to the Peek family for generously purchasing the medals this year!)

I didn't really get  many pictures of the day, since I was often away from the team either registering, collecting scores, or observing other teams perform. When we were together, I was usually either training them for their event or taking them to watch other performances and discuss strategy. 

The morning was spent making final adjustments to their sets and props. They decided to fold dozens of origami bugs and frogs to add to their backdrop, and add details to their set pieces. They spent the morning glueing, folding, and taping together in the cafeteria while we waited for our performance time. 

But here's one shot of the team getting ready for their performance. Sarah was so excited to paint Eliza's face as a cat!

This is the dance party in the evening. While we wait for final scores to be  compiled in the score room, there is always a DJ playing fun music in the gym. The kids had a wonderful time dancing and being silly together. And I totally joined the fun on the gym floor. 

In truth, we didn't hope to win first place, we just hoped to be good enough to advance to the state level. We were determined to give it our best shot and at  least get a medal. 

We had observed a couple of great performances from other teams and were very impressed with some of their creations. None of the other teams really took us seriously before our performance, since our team isn't funded by a school or business. The conversations I had with other coaches earlier were all painted with slightly patronizing voices and pity. When they heard that we meet only once each week instead of 3-4 days, they brushed us off as amateurs not worth worrying about. They didn't know how dedicated these kids are!

Usually in DI competitions, coaches make it a point to observe the performances of teams they think will win. They want to glean little tips from what other teams do well, and scope out the competition. Many teams had over 100 spectators to worry about. When we went onstage, there was only one observer that wasn't an immediate family member. At first I was disappointed that I wasn't being considered a threat to the other coaches, but then I was relieved because my students wouldn't have to feel distracted with a large audience. 

Our story is the classic story of an unknown, underfunded underdog team claiming victory over sponsored, experienced winners. 

This is the view I had when they were announced as the winners. Just look at their excited faces! They couldn't stop jumping and squealing, and they all rushed back to me for a team hug. Our co-coach, Rebekka, was with a date that night. She was sitting in the bleachers with him, but she ran down to join us and share the moment of excitement. 

Our team picture afterwards, with the official blue ribbons and plaque. 

Now we are  headed to the State Competition! Our team meetings have doubled, and they are busy improving their creations for the competition. I wish I could share more details about their performance, but we are keeping things under wraps until after the competition. I will say that the team is learning a host of new skills to prepare. And my kids have started taking a weekly Electronics course so they can learn to build their own motors. They had some great ideas to put in place before the next competition and -boy!- are they eager to build it all. 

We really love this program, and I'm so thankful to be their coach! It's been such a great family adventure!

Last Days of DI Summer Camp

Yikees, these are long overdue! 

Here are the glimpses of our last two days of Summer Camp.

The girls finally had their turn with the power tools. They did such a great job building their projects.

The boys and girls both spent another day finishing their candy dispensers after taking home the pieces and sanding them thoroughly. 

The tire swing was always a big hit during the lunch break, and the kids begged Nathan to push them really high each day. 

The kids enjoyed painting their finished candy dispensers. There were lots of creative ideas happening here. 

Each team made stick puppets for homework, then wrote a story to incorporate all the characters. They enjoyed presenting their puppet shows to each other.  

We played lots of outdoor games, including this fun one. It's called, "Giants, Wizards and Elves" and is basically a fun twist on the "Rock, Paper, Scissors" game. 

After rescuing the imprisoned bears from the evil dragon the first day of camp, the kids took the bears home to dress up however they wished. The creative costumes that came back were delightful! There was a suit and top hat made entirely of paper, dresses sewn with care, a king with a beensy toothpick sword, a tribesman with marker war paint and a spear made from a skewer, and lots of duct tape clothing of various sorts. It was SO neat to see what the kids created. 

We played fun group games like "Bang!" during recess time. 

There was also a fun challenge where teams tried to throw Cheetos onto a team member's head, which was covered in shaving cream. They thought this was super fun.

Next we had shaving games. The kids smeared shaving cream on their faces and 'shaved' it off with a wooden popsicle stick. This was super fun, and of course ended up as a a big shaving cream war. 

We played lots of parachute games in our meadow.  

Teams worked together to design and build a statue out of cardboard boxes and other materials.

The boys decided to build a Creeper from the Minecraft game, then they added elements to turn it into a Creeper of Liberty.

 

 One of the team races was a water-balloon challenge. Students had to move the water balloon to the finish line without touching it with their hands. These are some of the ways they solved that problem:

For the next race they had to move it with two people touching it, but neither one of them could use their hands. 

We learned lots of neat things this week and had a good time making new friendships. We met really amazing kids, and are really excited to spend the upcoming year working with these kids on our competitive DI team! 

Destination Imagination Summer Camp

We had a very busy and very fun-filled day, and BOY are my feet ready to be iced! While plantar fasciaitis and summer camp don't make a good mix, we still had a wonderful time today!

Here are some glimpses of the day:

Activities included team-building parachute games outside and water relay races with wet sponges. Then we had each team make up a team name. The girls are called "The Beautiful Bubbles" and the boys are known as "The Poisonous Pillows".

We learned how to use power tools this morning. Man alive! I have to give a huge shout-out to my sweetheart! 

Nathan took time off work this morning so he could be here teaching children how to use power tools. He spent hours with them building candy dispensers. 

Now he's working until 8:00 at the office to make up the missed hours. I can't thank him enough for his help!

Wednesday he's repeating it all over again. I feel so blessed with his service! How lucky am I to have a hubby who supports my crazy antics. 

 

Here's a shout-out to Laila, one of our Camp Counselors (in the pink hat). She was SO helpful all day being my "Go-fer" and floating helper for the special needs children. We loved having her here!

A glimpse of Vina, another one of our Camp Counselors. She's worth her weight in gold, folks! She's the group leader for the boys team and she did such a great job!

 

We also played lots of ice-breaker games to help kids know each other better. They mingled and giggled a lot. Then we learned basic acting skills as we played Charades. 

Here is a glimpse of another Camp Counselor, Rebekkah. The girls really loved her!

Next we learned how to use hot glue guns safely while constructing a creative statue out of cardboard boxes.

The Beautiful Bubbles really loved this activity and took such pride in their work. They designed a statue that plays on the words "Destination Imagination". Their statue takes them to a destination and is fueled by imagination.

It's a car with Pogo sticks instead of wheels. The exhaust cloud says, "Imagination" and they fitted the interior of the car with purple seats, a steering wheel, and a colorful keychain. It's still a work in progress, but they came really far in only 30 minutes. 

Several teddy bears were imprisoned by a terrible dragon and isolated on an island surrounded by a lava lake. So the kids designed and built creative boats to ferry bears safely across the lake. 

Later this week they are designing and building costumes for their bears before taking them home to keep. The bear they rescued went home with them today. 

It's a great group of kids!

The kids seemed to have a great time. I heard several of them say they couldn't wait until they could come back....so I suppose that's a good sign.