MPISD attends Destination Imagination Global Finals

• The Mystical Penguins (L to R) Eddie Olva, Callie Dimon, Shane Dimon, Kaylynn Andrade, Avalyn Netro, Judah Deal, Anna Henry COURTESY PHOTO

The Mystical Penguins, known as The Smart Penguins Going Bananas in 2023, attended the Destination Imagination (DI) Global Finals on May 22-25 in Kansas City, MO. Approximately 4000 competitors from Australia, Canada, the Cayman Islands, China, Ecuador, Guatemala, Indonesia, Korea, Mexico, Poland, Qatar, Turkey, Ukraine, and the United States competed in Technical, Engineering, Scientific, Fine Arts, Improvisational, or Service Learning Challenges. A Team Challenge is an open-ended project that teams work on over an extended period of time, usually 2-4 months.

The Penguins advanced in the Improvisational category where teams are given a scenario and have to create a skit and costumes on the spot. They returned to Global Finals for the second year in a row with one goal in mind—bringing home some hardware! In 2023, the Smart Penguins Going Bananas placed 29th in their division but made huge gains in 2024 coming in 10th place out of 35 overall in their category. Mystical Penguin team members included Kaylynn Andrade, Judah Deal, Callie Dimon, Anna Henry, Avalyn Netro, and Eddie Olva from E.C. Brice Elementary, and Shane Dimon from Wallace Middle School.

Pin trading is one of the most popular activities at Destination Imagination tournaments and is a great way for competitors to meet students from different states, provinces and countries. The MPISD district pin and Global Finals pin both earned spots in the silent auction.

MPISD currently has Destination Imagination teams at E.C. Brice, Frances Corprew, Vivian Fowler, and Annie Sims Elementary Schools and P.E. Wallace Middle School. The teams are coached by Jamie King.