NHICC, is New Hampshire Destination ImagiNation®, or NH-DI , a 501(c)3 non-profit organization designed to foster teamwork, creative problem solving, and innovation with students from preschool through college. DI ™, is the most popular extracurricular school activity in New Hampshire with some 2,700 student participants from over 200 schools and community based organizations each year. Since its inception in 1982, NHICC has had over 100,000 New Hampshire students in its creative problem solving programs.

Who is NH-DI?

Destination Imagination® in the Granite State is administered by NHICC, New Hampshire's Incredible Creativity Connection, a 25-year old 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Also known as NH-DI, we are a self-administering affiliate of Destination ImagiNation. NHICC also sponsors other projects, including Camp Gottalikachallenge™ Summer Creativity Camps, now entering its 12th year. In addition, we are run Destination ImagiNation's Rising Stars(tm), DI eXtreme™, Tech Effects™ and DI Later programs. Rising stars provides creative problem solving (CPS) materials and programs for the 4-7 age group while DI Later is perfect for post-college age adults who wish they had DI when "they were kids" . . . and still want to compete creatively.

NH-DI is a proud member of Destination ImagiNation (www.destinationImagination.org), the world's largest creative problem-solving organization the world with over 250,000 participants in 56 countries and all 50 states.

 

NH-DI teams will match wits and abilities in local, state, and global creativity tournaments. The emphasis is on innovation, problem solving and teamwork - and less on hard competition.

 

Up to seven participants work together as a team to create their unique solution to a Team Challenge, which can have a focus that is theatrical, structural, improvisational, scientific or technical - or, if the team desires, a blend of several disciplines. These challenges are also tied into National Learning Standards. There are four levels of competition based on the age of the oldest member of the team.

Teams learn and practice creative, quick-thinking skills for the Instant Challenge portion of competition.

In all, there are about 20 scoring areas for each team rewarding teamwork, innovation, creativity, and results.

Destination ImagiNation helps young people learn in a fun and supportive environment, and the valuable skills they have acquired will be with them for a lifetime.

Participants learn unique and critical life skills including teamwork, critical and creative thinking, project management, how to innovate, resource management, mutual respect, research and presentation skills and, as all challenges must be strictly team-solved, self-reliance.

These skills make Destination ImagiNation participants more valuable to their communities and future employers.

The program has attracted major sponsors including Velcro USA, 3M, and The National Dairy Council, among others.

Since 1982

The first New Hampshire creative problem-solving competition was held in the spring of 1982 and involved ten teams and fewer than 100 students. In 1983 those numbers more than doubled. Last year's participation will number in excess of over 2,700 students and will necessitate mutliple Regional Creativity Tournaments as well as a State Creativity Tournament.

The New Hampshire creative problem-solving program has become the largest participatory event for youth in the state, with over 200 member schools. This year, the program is open to public schools, private schools, and community groups.

From the State Tournament, the top scoring New Hampshire teams go on the next level of competition, Global Finals. Held each year on large university campuses, d2k.7 will be held at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. The thrill of being part of an international group of award winning problem solvers has been a remarkable experience for New Hampshire's creative stars.

 

It Takes People Like You!

Much of the success and growth of NH-DI is due to the commitment of parents, teachers, and others who volunteer hundreds of hours to manage the teams. It is the Team Managers with the school or district Coordinator who obtain resources and juggle schedules with unselfish dedication to the goals of the program. These people contribute more than their time and energy. They ladle out self-confidence and enthusiasm in huge portions to the members of their teams. NHICC is also indebted to the hundreds of officials whose commitment to the program requires attendance at an all day training session in addition to their actual tournament/appraising duties. NHICC is also frequently able to provide contacts of local experienced individuals to mentor new Team Managers. Most New Hampshire schools already have these resources built in as well.

A very successful addition to the NHICC programs has been the development and implementation of the summer enrichment program, Camp Gottalikachallenge™. NHICC has created a very unique day camp that is currently operating in various locations across the state. Students experiment with various media and materials (including the edible and the messy), create wacky constructions, play mind-challenging games, develop creative and critical thinking skills as well as build Better Brains through fun and engaging activities developed by NHICC.

NHICC has an over twenty year history of world leadership in creative problem solving that drive student to be more innovative people who become better citizens, employees, and community volunteers.

Please contact NH-DI / NHICC if you want more information about summer camp, the school-year program, Rising Stars™, DI Later™, or corporate sponsorship opportunities.

More Information contact jill@nh-di.org, or our office at (603) 868-2140.

| 09.03.06 |