New Rochelle Goes Global at Destination Imagination
A group of second graders from George M. Davis Elementary competed recently at the Destination Imagination Global Finals in Kansas City, Mo., the first New Rochelle team to do so in the program’s history.
Known as the Color Whirl Kids, the team was the youngest of more than 600 from around the world to compete. Destination Imagination is a not-for-profit educational program that promotes creativity by having students solve open-ended challenges that blend science, technology, engineering, arts and math. Teams develop a solution to a challenge over a three- to six-month season, then present it at a tournament.
“I loved performing for so many people and watching other teams perform from around the world,” said Emma B., one of the team members.
“I loved building the set this year and learning the different stage makeup techniques,” said Joey G.
“The best part of Global Finals was the opening ceremony and seeing kids from different countries.”
The Davis team chose the Fine Arts challenge titled “Becoming Super.” They had to create an origin story about how one character becomes a superhero and another character becomes a supervillain when placed in the same situation. The team also had to create a technical costume using the principles of STEM and use stage makeup to enhance the performance. All teams had a budget of $175 and eight minutes to present their performance.
“The children did an outstanding job tying for 28th place of 56 teams in their challenge,” said Marissa Beattie, parent advisor. “They finished 20th in their performance and in their team choice elements, which the appraisers called “a color explosion.”
The Global Finals competition kicked off with a “welcome ceremony” where each state and country marched into the arena in their own “creativity olympics.” The procession was followed by the playing of each nation’s anthem. Countries represented included Australia, China, Guatemala, Korea, Mexico, Netherlands, Poland, Canada, Turkey, and Ukraine. There was also representation from more than 30 states.
After their performance Friday the students had an opportunity to explore other activities including a 150-foot-long cave simulation and Mad Science-style, hands-on experiments. There were also opportunities to build your own drone and practice carving cardboard on ChompSaws.
Finally, the students participated in Destination Imagination’s flagship event: pin trading where the kids traded their 2026 New York pins with children from around the world. Their collections now include China, Mexico, Texas, Arkansas, Wisconsin, Ohio, Maryland, New Hampshire, California and so many more.