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traordinary amount of time providing materials requested by the team and providing instant team challenges to practice before competitions. Instant team challenges give team members ve minutes to solve a problem together and present the solution to a team of judges.

“(Teams) have to be able to use an incredible amount of teamwork and have consideration for each other to meld ideas or be able to say this idea will work better than another,” Woulfe said. “ is is an amazing program. If they can survive a DI challenge, they can survive a lot of things in life. ey rise to the challenge.” is year the challenge for the Blue Eagles was to build a puzzle with a technical contraption, so the team created a pneumatic arm with a hand grabber.

Louie Wright, head coach of the Blue Eagles third-grade team, became a coach because her daughter was interested in building things such as taking cardboard boxes and creating cat condos. ey attended a state competition to nd out what DI was all about, and her daughter was hooked.

What Wright likes about her team is how they think ahead, research and imagine what they want to do next. When they get to a practice session, they know what they want to do — teaching them teamwork skills.

Parent Beth Schubert has two children on Elk Creek DI teams, daughter Ella and son Connor, noting that her family got involved because they heard about it from other parents.

“Both my kids are introverts, but now they can get up in front of a room and have this performance and come up with scripts,” Schubert said. “ ey use their creativity and present in front of a crowd. DI is a huge time commitment, but it’s de nitely worth it.” anks to the competitions, team members meet students with similar interests from around the world, Schubert said. Teams get to see what others are doing, so that sparks even

Celebrating 41Years

more creativity.

Parent Deshika Adkins, whose son Alec is on the Blue Eagles team, has been impressed with the program. “ e change I have seen in my son in two years. He is less shy, speaks up, is very creative and so excited about working with the team,” Adkins said. “He is so excited to do research and meet with the group. ey learn that everyone has strengths and weaknesses, and they learn to work together.”

She is happy that Elk Creek Elementary supports DI, so much so that principal Valerie Pollitt ew to the global competition last month to support the teams. at support also appears in the names of all 10 teams since they got their start at Elk Creek Elementary, and the school’s mascot is the eagle.

“ is is really a great way to take what they have learned in school and have a practical way to use what they’re learning whether math, science, English or social studies,” Adkins said. “We are so impressed by the program.”

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