Jackson
Elementary DI Team
Wins Top Award at Global Finals
May 31, 2005
Jackson Elementary School's Destination ImagiNation! (DI) team
returned home to Plano on May 29 world champions, after
capturing fourth place at the DI Global Finals
"d2k.5" held over Memorial Day Weekend in Knoxville,
Tennessee. The team placed second in the state DI contest
behind at team from Houston, which placed under the
Jackson team at globals. Also, three teams from Plano
ISD's Hughston Elementary School placed first in the
Texas DI competition, earning
their way to the global finals.
'Super Seven'
 The Jackson
"super seven," who secured the fourth highest score
among 56 competing teams in the elementary
"Dizzy Derby" challenge, include Travis Brody, Ethan
Funkhouser, Tommy Garber, Blake Ligon, Noor Majdi,
Garrett McMillan and Haley Smith. Dan McMillan is head
coach, and Brad Funkhouser serves as assistant team
manager.
Kitty Schieck, Jackson Elementary
School PACE (Plano Academic and Creative Education)
teacher and Jackson DI sponsor, said, "I'm
so proud of our team. The students
performed at their peak. They did their best, but other
teams were doing their best as well."
Ms. Schieck noted that this was the team's
second year to advance to DI
Global Finals ,
and that "teamwork" is the number one factor that gives
them an edge over competition.
"They've learned to look at the strengths of each other
and overlook weaknesses," she said.
 Since all students may participate in DI, the team is comprised of
PACE (gifted program) students and non-PACE students.
"The success of this team gives validity to the
all-inclusive philosophy of DI," noted Ms. Schieck,
who said that she has witnessed a blossoming of self-confidence
in the DI teammates over the past
two years. "This
is just a great group of young people. Seeing the confidence
that they've achieved by learning to work together
as a team has been very rewarding."
'Dizzy Derby' Team Challenge
Focus Technical design and construction
of a vehicle; invention and design process; playwriting;
teamwork
Racing! Laps! Strategy! The team-designed vehicle
raced against the clock (8 minutes) to complete
the greatest number of laps on a
triangular track. There is more than one way to earn
lap points. Did the team design for speed alone, or
gain extra points with a risky detour?...The Jackson
team completed all of the detours!
The Jackson team chose Paul Revere as a theme for their challenge,
an outgrowth of a fifth grade Wax Museum research project.
Blake, the driver, was Paul in the
Wax Museum. The others became Patriots, Redcoats, and
King George to loosely fit the theme. You will not
find the details of this ride in the history
books!
Teamwork Each member designed and created his/her
costume. As they worked within a budget, many of the
materials were items they found around the house.
Teamwork for them evolved into a "divide and conquer"
plan of multi-tasking. They applied this strategy in
planning the skit and in instant challenges. They had
organizers, idea "men",
detail "men", timers, builders, planners, etc. Blake and
Tommy wrote the song that the team performed at the
conclusion of the challenge--a recap of their version
of Paul's ride.
Life Skills This team can sew, use an electirc saw,
drill, and other tools! Parents may model the use of tools, but
students must do the actual labor on all materials
used in the challenge.
Winning Words of Wisdom
We asked the Jackson teammates to tell us what makes a competitive
team and the secrets to success. Here's what they had
to say.
Ethan: "A great DI team is made
of great friends, hard work, good teamwork, and loads
of fun. The secret ingredient is to do your best
and have all of the fun that
you can have."
Garrett: "A team needs people who cooperate
and work well together and who listen
to each other and their coaches to learn new skills. Teamwork is also a key part
of Instant Challenges. The team has to want and desire
to win." Words and ideas to describe
success: teamwork,
kids
with
a
variety
of skills, boys and girls on the team, a good manager, ambition,
and imagination.
Tommy: "There are a few things that make a
great DI team. Teamwork is the key to everything. A
DI team without teamwork is like a car without an engine--it
can't go anywhere. To have
teamwork you can't argue. Another thing that a great team has is flexibility.
A team should be able to perform anywhere, any time. Teams should always follow
the rules, too. The secret ingredient for a team is to practice, practice,
and practice some more. Come up with lots of good ideas. The most important
thing, though, is to always have fun!"
Travis: "A great team is evenly balanced. It
is good to have team members who are good at one or
two specific areas. Make sure you use a couple of these
strategies: face the audience;
speak loudly and clearly; divide and conquer; don't say no; make sure you have
good teamwork; use all of the materials; and make sure
you complete what is required."
Noor: "A great DI team is all made up by the
people. The team has to be willing to work hard and
come to most of the team meetings. They have to be
really nice and need to be serious
when it is time to get down to work."
Haley: "The thing that makes a great DI team
is teamwork. Although creativity is important, teamwork
is definitely the thing to work on. Being agreeable
with your team is a huge part
of teamwork. You may not get your way, but if the majority rules, you'll just
have to go with it."
Blake: "Everybody argues, especially if you live together for a week
(at global finals). If you do, don't hold grudges....be
friends. That will help you keep up the great teamwork."
Teacher/Sponsor Kitty Schieck "The process
of teamwork became more important than the product.
This team truly learned to
respect the ideas of each member, listen in a supportive
way, avoid put-downs, build on the ideas of others,
and to consider the good
of the team above personal wishes...The parents were all
supportive of the team and team managers. Each family
contributed in some way
to the team--carpooling to practice, shopping, field
trips to the hobby shop,
storing the
vehicle, transporting the vehicle, snacks, arranging
travel, working to get the team pin produced (for pin
trading at the global event), ordering t-shirts, etc."
About Destination ImagiNation!
The Destination ImagiNation! program helps kids build important,
lifelong skills, like problem solving, teamwork and divergent thinking.
The teams solve two types of challenges within the program year. The "team
challenge" involves structural, technical or theatrically oriented
Challenges and takes several months to solve. Throughout that time
the teams also practice improvisational "instant challenges," which
stimulate the team’s ability to think quickly and creatively
with only minutes to prepare solutions.
Global Finals is a culmination of the year, bringing team winners
representing their state, their province, or their country to compete
against one another at the annual international creative problem solving
tournament held at the University of Tennessee.
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