DI Global competition, held May 24-27 in Knoxville, TN, saw representation from Seguin thanks to teams from Koennecke and Weinert elementaries and Seguin High School.

The Koennecke Elementary School team of Chase Dominguez, Desiree Dominguez, Bailey Garcia, Karissa Holden, Dylan Ranft and Chandler Stephenson took second place honors in the Fine Arts Challenge category.

Taking fifth place in the Scientific Challenge category was the Weinert Elementary team of Brylynn Baker, Carter Dunn, Shelby Just, Ellie Kallus, Madison Kirchner and Ava Sauceda.

Weinert Elementary’s team of John Walker Baker, Jo’Lena Fogg, Tilden Nash, Rayjen Tovar, Aiden Vargas and Sophia Vela finished seventh in the Project Outreach Community Service Challenge.

The Seguin High School team of Reyna Davila, Beckett Legore, Andy McDowell, Trinity Ramirez, Karen Ranft and Emilie Weber placed eleventh in Scientific Challenge, while Serenity DeLeon, Camden Rodriguez and Jaden Tovar, also of Seguin High School, took twenty-second place in the Fine Arts Challenge.

“I congratulate all of our DI students from Seguin ISD for another great year. In keeping with Seguin’s strong tradition of excellence in DI, we had numerous teams advance and compete at the regional, state and of course global level. I am proud of these students, their parents and team managers for all their hard work and positively representing our district,” said Interim Superintendent Bill Lewis.

Michael Olstad and Pam Krippner coordinate Seguin ISD’s Destination ImagiNation award-winning programs.

“Our Seguin DI teams again performed tremendously at the Global level, as evidenced by the outstanding results. The students were well prepared and were up to each challenge that they faced despite stiff competition,” Olstad said.

Creative and critical thinking are the hallmarks of the international DI competition. This year’s Global contest saw representation from more than 8,000 students from 17 countries. The Seguin teams competed against more than 1,400 teams from around the world, including those from China, South Korea, Canada, Mexico, England, Brazil, Poland, Turkey and Singapore.

DI is an educational program where student teams solve open-ended challenges and present their solutions at tournaments. In working to solve the challenges, teams learn important life skills like time management, collaboration, conflict resolution, and creative and critical thinking. More than 125,000 students compete in DI each year.