Northrop Grumman Sponsors Destination ImagiNation
The 2015/2016 Spring Ridge Middle School Destination Team
What is Destination ImagiNation?
Imagine being handed a plastic spoon, two paperclips, a drinking straw, one sheet of paper and two small pieces of duct tape and told to create a device capable of carrying a ping pong ball through the air to the finish line 10 feet away. All parts must cross the finish line with the ping pong ball attached, but you can’t use the tape to attach the ping-pong ball. Oh, and you must have it done in five minutes! Could you figure it out?
You would be surprised by just how many creative and successful engineering solutions students can think of to solve that problem. Given the opportunity, students are amazingly resourceful and, when working as a team, can solve some of the toughest challenges which seem impossible to many adults. Destination Imagination (DI) offers all students that opportunity.
On Tuesday, October 11, SMCPS will be hosting a “TRY DI Night” for all students and their families to experience the fun of DI. Held at the Forrest Career and Technology Center, and sponsored by Northrop Grumman, the event is free and open to all K-12 students.
“We are extremely blessed to have community partners such as Northrop Grumman and Scott Stewart (NGC Local Executive),” Dr. Laura Carpenter, Regional Director, St. Mary’s County Public Schools Destination ImagiNation Programs said. “Without their continued support, many of our STEM For All programs would not be possible.”
DI is a fun, hands-on STEM program that fosters students’ creativity, problem solving, and teamwork through academic challenges and competition. With more than 150,000 students from 48 states and 30 countries participating in the program, DI has become one of the most popular student competitions in the world.
A number of SMCPS schools participate in DI, and have been extremely successful at the state and global competitions. In 2016, Spring Ridge Middle School and Chesapeake Charter School DI teams represented St. Mary’s County at the Global Competition in Knoxville, Tenn.
“Our ultimate goal is to offer DI at every school and to every student in St. Mary’s County. This is a wonderful program and, compared to many other competition programs, DI is fairly inexpensive. I hope that TRY DI Night will generate student interest at those schools not currently participating in DI and provide them with the support necessary to have a thriving program.” said Carpenter.
To learn more about Destination ImagiNation here. Learn more about Northrop Grumman Corporation and their Corporate Citizenship program here.
For more information on Destination ImatiNation in St. Mary’s County Schools, or to start a team at your school, please contact Dr. Laura Carpenter at 301-475-0260, or by email at [email protected],
To learn more about The Patuxent Partnership and other STEM programs visit the Pax Partnership’s Leader Page.
