The teams in the Destination Imagination competition need to demonstrate excellent creativity and teamwork in order to win.

Maharishi School teams take first in creativity competition
by Maharishi University of Management, Fairfield, Iowa, USA, The Review
30 April 2015

Maharishi School sent 11 teams to the Destination Imagination state competition last month, and returned with five state champion teams to represent Iowa at the global finals in May.

An international nonprofit volunteer organization, Destination Imagination teaches the creative process, from imagination to innovation. The program encourages teams of students to have fun, take risks, focus, and frame challenges while incorporating science, technology, engineering, mathematics, the arts, and service learning. Participants learn patience, flexibility, persistence, ethics, respect for others and their ideas, and the collaborative problem-solving process.

Students from kindergarten through university level participate. Each team has an adult team manager, but the adults cannot give any feedback or suggestions about solving the team challenge. Teams compete in one of seven challenges. After months spent creating and developing their solutions, they present at sub-state and state tournaments. They also compete in a 10 minute “instant challenge.” Top-scoring teams advance to Global Finals, the world’s largest celebration of creativity with over 16,000 students competing from around the world.

"At Maharishi School we have a rich history of success at creative problem-solving competitions," said Mark Wilkins, the Maharishi School Destination Imagination program director. "The five champion teams from Maharishi School will be one-third of the total teams representing Iowa at global finals."

Two Lower School boys teams (4th-5th graders) won first place in their category, and three Upper School teams took first. Six of the 15 participants from the Upper School are boarding students, including five from China and one from Dubai.

More details on the winning teams are available at the Maharishi School website.

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