Dairy Farmers of America See Destination Imagination as a Valuable Partner

Leading dairy operations supplying milk For thousands of youth at Global Finals

CHERRY HILL, NJ- Destination Imagination (DI), a non-profit, educational, after school program where students from kindergarten through college work as teams to solve open-ended challenges, is pleased to have the Dairy Farmers of America providing milk daily for the 8,000 youth participants in Destination Imagination’s Global Finals on the University of Tennessee campus in Knoxville, May 23-26.

Dairy Farmers of America(DFA) is a leading milk marketing cooperative and dairy food processor.  Additionally, Dairy Max, The Southeast United Dairy Industries Association, INC and Western Dairy Association are all sponsors of all the milk supplied at Global Finals.

“A huge thank you goes out to the Dairy Cooperative, their promotion organizations and to Flav-O-Rich Dairy for their continued participation in Destination Imagination’s Global Finals,” said Chuck Cadle, CEO of Destination Imagination.  “There’s no one better than the DFA to provide our talented youth with all the milk they need.”

“Dairy Farmers of America lives every day by our values, one of which is community.  We are proud to support such an outstanding, quality organization like Destination Imagination that is investing in our youth and leaders of the future,” said Jim Hahn, Vice President of Administration and Member Services at DFA, in Knoxville, TN.

Destination Imagination as had a positive impact on more than 1.5 million youth and adults who have benefitted from taking part in its acclaimed Challenge Program. This year, another 100,000 have competed in tournaments throughout the U.S. and in 30 countries to earn a spot at the finals in May.

More than 8,000 students representing 1,200 teams will advance to Global Finals May 23-26. This celebration of creativity will feature unique solutions for STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math), Improv, Theater Arts, and Community Service challenges.

“The Destination Imagination Program allows students K-college to learn and experience the creative process. Quantitative reasoning, collaborative problem solving, critical thinking, risk taking, time and budget management, creative expression, and thinking on your feet are some of the important skills learned in the Program,” said Cadle.

The Innovation Expo at Globals this year will feature NASA, Casio, ThinkFun, Texas Instruments, and many other exhibitors. In addition, students will have a chance to learn about environmental sustainability at the 3M sponsored “Explore the Uncharted” exhibit, and brain health in the Ready-Headset-Go exhibit. There will be book signings by Dr. Paul Nussbaum, keynote speaker and author of Save Your Brain, and by Tamara Kleinberg, author of Think Sideways.

BETTER GRADES CREDITED TO DESTINATION IMAGINATION
In a survey on 1,000 students at Global Finals last year, nearly half said taking part in DI had improved their grades, and a majority reported that DI helps them “do better in school.” The majority also said DI helps them develop critical thinking skills, self confidence, leadership and the ability to communicate better.

Destination Imagination is an educational program where student teams are immersed in the creative process needed to solve open-ended challenges, and then present their solutions at local and regional tournaments. If they win at those levels, they gradually work their way up to an invitation to Global Finals.

“The DI competition requires students to work through some very demanding critical thinking and problem solving assignments that strengthen our educational systems by enhancing the learning processes taking place in the classroom,” declared Cadle.  “We’ve seen the development of superior aptitudes in analytical thinking, leadership, project management, teamwork, communication, research and innovation in hundreds of thousands of youth since our organization’s inception almost three decades ago, and we believe Destination Imagination has the potential to bridge the gap between what is taught in our schools and the thinking skills our youth will need to succeed in the world of the future.”

Destination ImagiNation, Inc. dedicates itself to enriching the global community by providing opportunities for learners of all ages to explore and discover unlimited creative potential through teamwork, cooperation and mutual respect.

Source: http://www.globalfinals.org/ (opens in new window)