NHOM at D2k1 Destination Imagination World Finals 2001

COMPETITION ENDS ; LIFETIME MEMORIES ABOUND

Knoxville, TN, Friday May 25, 2001 (9:35PM EDT)

Competition ended today, as the 831 teams - and 30 NHOM teams, plus the 16,000 people on hand at the Destination Imagination Global Finals rocked the University of Tennessee's Thompson-Boling Arena.

New Hampshire teams faired very well, frequently finishing in the upper scoring teams. The team's memory of the scores will fade as they remember the five days with other teams from all over the US and around the world. They will remember the great times, and the road that brought them to the international spotlight.

- - More info on the Saturday 5/26 page . . .

Knoxville, TN, Friday May 25, 2001 (9:35PM EDT)

Competition continued on for the 831 teams - and 30 NHOM teams at the Destination Imagination Global Finals today. Click the schedule of NH Teams and get the updates for today's performing teams once they are recieved.

Pinkerton Academy (Derry) Mystery Loves Company team is being featured on the DI web site. You can see the Real Video portion of the performance at: http://www.destinationimagination.org/d2k.1/videos/Pinkerton_Acad.rm

. . . More details as we get them from Destination Imagination Global Finals!

Buddy Teams

Some how New Hampshire's own Cy Richard always gets those envious jobs.

This year he is the master of mixture, pairing up US based teams with teams from foreign countries. This year we had 21 foreign teams that chose to participate. Cy set them up with "Buddy Teams" from across the US.

For the most part, the buddies were set up by matching teams by problem and level. NH-DI had four teams that stepped up. Milford Middle School was matched with Beechwood Junior School from the UK while Rindge Memorial School made friends with a team from the Escola Americana do rio de Janeiro School of Brazil.

All four teams competed in Anonymously Yours - Elementary Level. NH-DI's Middle Level team from Hollis-Brookline Junior High School, participating in IncreDIble Tech Effects was paired with a second team from Escola Americana do rio de Janeiro School of Brazil whose challenge was Mystery Loves Company.

Lastly, the Monadnock Regional High School team in Triplicity buddied with another Secondary Level team in Mystery Loves Company from the American Preparatory School in Curacao.

The Buddy Team program was established to promote cross culture relationships. These teams spend a lot of time together, including sharing food and supporting each other at their respective challenge solution presentations. Thank you one and all.

. . . Naturally, at the global level, some teams just happen to run into each other, such as the teams from Tiberlane High School and Guatamala.

. . . . . .
Meanwhile, some of New Hampshire's volunteers to Global Finals were caught by a passing camera. Learn more about these and the others helping make D2K.1 work on the volunteer page, being updated daily.

OPENING CEREMONIES of d2k.1
"...See the future where there are no challenges that cannot be solved. Look around you... and see the most dedicated kids in the world. These are our teams ... for 2001!"

- NHOM Association Director Jill Schoonmaker ending her introduction to the teams

Knoxville, TN, Wednesday May 23, 2001 (7:35PM EDT)

NHOM Destination Imagination Association Director Jill Schoonmaker opened d2k.1, the DI Global Finals, with the honor of introducing the 831 teams - 30 from New Hampshire - during the opening Parade of Teams. Called and marching out to the main floor by state or country excited teams added to the 14,000 people in the University of Tennessee's Thompson-Boling Arena.

"Welcome the team from New Hampshire!" - Jill
Team New Hampshire waitied in the wings for their introduction - and some have waited years for this moment. When Jill announced them, "Welcome the team from New Hampshire!", they poured into the auditorium, waving the state flag with the seal of New Hampshire to the cheers, bright spot lights and crowds fitting the global stage.

As tradition dictates, team members repeated after Jill:
"This is who we are. We are thinkers. We are travelers. Our world is a place of endless possibilities. We are explorers. We are creativity. Together we can solve any challenge. Our destination is our imagination. We are a team! "

This isn't the only tradition. Some things remain the same, as the Association Director of Tennessee reminded everyone."Hot glue guns (crowd cheering), miles of duct tape(crowd wildly cheering), cardboard boxes, trips to the junk yard and hardware stores, pizza parties (crowd cheering), arguments and reconciliation with team members, and those late night work sessions."

Bob Purifico, Executive DIrector of DI, spread his enthusiasm to the teams as he welcomed them as part of "the largest creative problem solving program in the world". He thanked 3M, Best Buy, Velcro USA, Philips Electronics, and the National Dairy Council and the thousands of volunteers who made this year not just possible, but successful.

Competition begins tomorrow, and the schedule is out. (Click for the schedule of NH Teams).