Maharishi School children are so successful at the Destination ImagiNation competitions because, “Consciousness-Based education and Transcendental Meditation help the students to expand their creativity, their energy and their coherence," says Mark Wilkins who has has successfully coordinated the program at Maharishi School for the last 7 years.

School students win top awards in state creativity competition
by Maharishi University of Management, Fairfield, Iowa, USA, The Review and the Maharishi School website
June 2013

Again this year Maharishi School students performed well at the state level in the international Destination ImagiNation creativity competition, where students perform unique, masterful solutions to mind-bending challenges. The students must come up with solutions to the challenges on their own, without adult interference.

Eight Maharishi School teams took the top award in a number of categories, qualifying them to represent Iowa at the global competition in Knoxville, Tennessee. This tied the school record for teams sent to the global competition, where students from over 30 countries compete.

Every year over one-third of the teams representing Iowa are from Maharishi School. This year 8 out of 15 teams are from Maharishi School. Most other schools offer DI only to students in the gifted and talented programs, whereas any Maharishi School student wanting to participate in the DI program is able to.

Destination ImagiNation is a non-profit, volunteer-run organization dedicated to "encouraging teams of learners to have fun, take risks, focus, and frame challenges while incorporating STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics), the arts, and service learning. Participants learn patience, flexibility, persistence, ethics, respect for others and their ideas, and the collaborative problem solving process."

Participants gain more than just basic knowledge and skills—they learn to unleash their imaginations and take unique approaches to problem solving. Teams work together for several months to create their solutions to the challenges, which can have theatrical, structural, improvisational, scientific or technical focuses. Teams also learn and practice creative quick-thinking skills for the Instant Challenge portion of the program where they must solve an unknown challenge in 5-8 minutes.

Mark Wilkins has successfully coordinated the program at Maharishi School for the last 7 years. When asked why Maharishi School students are so successful Mark explains that, “Consciousness-Based education and Transcendental Meditation help the students to expand their creativity, their energy and their coherence."

Wilkins adds that the DI program helps students to see "life as full of challenges to be solved, instead of a world fraught with problems. The kids are empowered by discovering new ways to creatively solve challenges."

Maharishi School has been competing at Global Finals since 1994. See video online about Destination ImagiNation at Maharishi School.

© Copyright 2013 Maharishi School of the Age of Enlightenment and Maharishi University of Management