Schools all over the world and top U.S. universities Know Destination Imagination enriches their students

CHERRY HILL, N.J., May 17, 2012 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ — Hundreds of elementary, secondary and high schools from all over the world are sending teams to vie for honors in Destination Imagination’s Global Finals celebration of creativity May 23-26. DI officials today announced five major universities are playing an active role in Destination Imagination programs.

They are:

Michigan Tech

Philadelphia University

The University of Tennessee

The University of Virginia

Virginia Tech

Youth competing in Destination Imagination’s Global Finals last year said in a survey they believed DI helps them to “do better in school,” and almost half said they credited DI with helping them improve their grades.

Virginia Tech, Michigan Tech and the University of Tennessee all have interactive exhibits in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) subjects, and the Global Finals celebration of creativity and critical thinking is being hosted on the University of Tennessee Campus in Knoxville again this year.

Philadelphia University will be the site of a special NASA space station uplink for DI students in June. NASA chose DI over six other applicants. “At Philadelphia University, we share DI’s philosophy with our Nexus Learning approach to education – active, collaborative, connected to the real world and infused with the liberal arts – and are proud to work together with DI to prepare the innovators of tomorrow,” declared D. R. Widder, Executive Director of Innovation.

The University of Virginia is involved in research into the positive impact of DI’s problem solving challenge programs on kids involved in Head Start. Researchers at UVA in 2011 published research concluding that youth who compete in DI’s challenges are better at critical thinking and using creativity and collaboration to solve open-ended problems than kids who are not involved in DI.

Virginia Tech, in addition to being an exhibitor, will present teams with AC4P (Actively Caring for People) wristbands. The initiative is to help team members understand and combat bullying, harassment and intimidation.

“These major universities will have the opportunity to interact with some of the most creative thinkers in the world,” said Chuck Cadle, CEO of Destination Imagination Inc., a global non-profit based in Cherry Hill, NJ. “The universities are able to showcase what they have to offer potential future students, and at the same time, attract kids who have the characteristics of future national leaders.”