Because of the weather that was forecasted, we packed a bag and stayed downtown on the 17th to ensure I could pick Heather up at the train station and get us both to the Colorado State Destination Imagination (DI) tournament. Thank goodness I made that choice as the weather in Downtown Denver was mostly rainy while at home it was snowy.
Heather’s train made it in early though it backed into the station which took longer than Heather wanted, even though she was still early by about 20 minutes. She got off the train running to the car, conductors asked her to slow down as they didn’t want her to fall, so we could dash the short distance to the Auroria Campus for the DI Tournament. She made it in time so she could appraise (her favorite thing to do).
Heather’s section started appraising at 7:15 and appraised until 5:30 with a little break for lunch and very short breaks to get drinks. Some of these breaks they used to “catch up” by allowing the teams that came in late because of the weather to perform. She saw some really great teams where it was going to come down to the Instant Challenge to determine who was going to Globals in Knoxville. Because of Heather’s mad dash back to the train with food first (followed by work when she got back into Lincoln), she didn’t have the opportunity to go to the great party afterward where the team places would be announced. One of the team managers Heather and I have known for a long time (one of her teams went to Globals the year we did) was going to text Heather with the results.
I tried appraising for something different. This was the first year it was really done at the High School and State level – DI Extreme. I do wish this was an option back when Heather and Karen had competed. It is a big Instant Challenge. Teams really need to read and reread their challenge during the “Tinker Tank” time so they can understand what the challenge is really about. We saw many solutions but only one team had a solution that met the challenge criteria. It was a great opportunity to work with the High Schoolers after working with the Rising Stars. I think I’m going to volunteer for this level when I’m not working with the Rising Stars.
Overall it was a great day and I think fun was had by most. I know I appreciated how close the buildings were for the different challenges so even though walking was involved, it was not miles. The other great thing – parking was a lot cheaper than past years.
Tags: Destination Imagination, DI, DI Extreme, Heather Bright, Wendy Frenzel
