Destination Imagination has been apart of our school system extensive list of clubs and organizations for 18 years. Each year teams from our school have the opportunity to showcase their creative talents at a global level. The global competition is generally held in Knoxville, Tennessee, but due to construction, a contract ending, and an overall need for change, DI Global Finals 2019 will be held in Kansas City, MO. Because of these recent changes, the price of the trip has increased exponentially, resulting in an overwhelming need for fundraising. The price is coming in at a whopping $5500 per team (in comparison to last years $600 per person) and has left students looking for every opportunity to raise money to allow their team to be able to compete.

Fundraising projects students have been participating in include the following: a rummage sale, an Applebee’s pancake breakfast, car washing, selling vouchers for Texas Roadhouse rolls, selling concessions and shaved ice for Madison City School events, and standing outside of Belk for hours selling tickets to their semi-annual charity sale.

Jenny Shaver, a junior at Bob Jones and DI participant of 8 years, when asked about the recent changes said,  “Although these changes are unfortunate, they have brought our team closer together to helping our cause and overall we’ll come to appreciate the trip even more cause of all the hard work we put in to get here.”

The contractual changes have brought a lot of stress, not only on students, but faculty as well. Mrs. Dauma, Bob Jones’ AP English teacher and DI sponsor, stated, “This is a stressful time for all parties involved including teachers, parents, and students. By making these changes, it has added an extra 30% cost onto us, which makes it even more imperative that our fundraisers are successful, so we appreciate everyone who has participated in helping us reach our goal.”

Although this year’s changes have been stressful, Bob Jones DI participants are looking forward to eventually meeting their goal and joining thousands of other teams in competing for a global title this May. Support your local DI teams!