Caledonia Junior High students place eighth in Destination Imagination

Drops of Hope, a team of seven Grade 9 girls from Caledonia Junior High school have placed eighth in their Brand Aid challenge at Global Finals in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Drops of Hope is a Destination Imagination team from Caledonia Junior High School are Lauren Regan, Sara James, Meggie Rennie, Genevieve MacDonald, Maria Sotiropoulos, Megan MacDonald and Olivia Colaiacovo. They are all in Grade 9 and chose a project to help Canadian Blood Services get more first time donors and fill a low turnout blood donor clinic.

Last week in Knoxville, Tennessee the team travelled to Global Finals (www.GlobalFinals.org) and competed against 58 other teams from all over the world. Their eight-minute presentation on their outreach project in the Brand Aid Challenge along with their Instant Challenge results saw them achieve one of the top placings ever from a Nova Scotian team in this worldwide competition.

Destination Imagination is an international organization that helps students learn using 21st century skills. Teams choose a challenge to solve by creating unique solutions that involve teamwork, collaboration, problem solving, science, technology, engineering, math and most importantly their creativity and imagination. The teams then present their challenges and results to judges at a regional competition and the winners move on to compete globally in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Drops of Hope chose the community service learning challenge, called Brand Aid. Their challenge was to develop a brand, logo, jingle and chose a community need. They had to set a goal on how they would address the need and then work through the year as a team to solve their challenge and achieve their goal.

Drops of Hope chose to help Canadian Blood Service reach their target on a low turnout clinic and also bring in more first-time donors. They achieved this and at the clinic they sponsoredon Feb. 19, they reached 111 per cent of their target for donors that day along with having two-and-a half times more new blood donors, and one-and-a half times more returning donors who attended. They have also helped create returning blood donors who will continue to support our community and the people here by becoming regular blood donors for life. In total they were responsible for donors who have helped save 75 lives.

At the Global Finals competition the team had eight minutes to show the judges all aspects of their challenge — the need, their goal, their brand, logo, jingle, and create a puzzle with a minimum of five pieces that represent the project and which had to be formed in front of the judges. They also were required to incorporate an evaluation of the project – all in under eight minutes. You can view their winning presentation online at: https://youtu.be/5_4QWDvlQiA.

At the Global Finals this year, there were over 1,460 teams and more than 17,000 students, chaperones and families in attendance — each with their own unique challenges and solutions. It is an experience of a lifetime and Drops of Hope had great success, placing eighth in their category.

It is amazing to watch our youth show the world how seven 13 year old girls from Dartmouth can help change the future of a community.

Learn more about the team at www.DartmouthDI.com and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/DartmouthDI.