Join a community where using your IMAGINATION and CREATIVITY is encouraged and celebrated!
About Us
What Is Troy Creative Minds?
Troy Creative Minds (TCM) is a non-profit organization committed to helping the students of Troy School District participate in a world-wide creativity program in which students grades K-high school work in teams to solve a team selected challenges designed by the world’s largest creative problem solving organization: Destination ImagiNation.
TCM works with Michigan Creativity Association to allow our TSD students to participate in tournaments at the local, state and global levels.
What Is Destination Imagination?
The Destination Imagination (DI) program encourages teams of learners to have fun, take risks, focus and frame challenges while incorporating STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics), the arts and service learning.
Get Started!
Have more questions? Looking for a team? Join us for the Troy Creative Minds Information Night on 9/17/19 7:00pm at the Larson Middle School Cafeteria.
2019-20 DI Challenge previews
TECHNICAL CHALLENGE
The Technical Challenge prompts students to complete tasks by using engineering, research, strategic planning, and related skills.
- Design and build an invention.
- Create and present a story about how a problem is solved with the use of the invention.
- Integrate an invention artifact to highlight the development process.
- Design and build scenery that shows the impact of solving the problem.
- Create and present two Team Choice Elements that show off the team’s interests, skills, areas of strength, and talents
SCIENTIFIC CHALLENGE
Our Scientific Challenge blends the curiosity of scientific research with the creative expression of performance art.
- Research a real species and a real habitat.
- Create and present a story about the first encounter between the species and the habitat.
- Show how the species and the habitat change as a result of the encounter.
- Present the story in theater in the round.
- Create and present two Team Choice Elements that show off the team’s interests, skills, areas of strength, and talents.
FINE ARTS CHALLENGE
Our Fine Arts Challenge helps students develop acting and creative skills through artistic media, theater arts, script writing, and prop design.
- Create and present a story that features an unseen character and its impact on a team-selected photograph.
- Theatrically recreate the photograph during the Presentation.
- Create and present a visual effect that includes a photographic technique.
- Show how the visual effect changes the perspective of one or more characters.
- Create and present two Team Choice Elements that show off the team’s interests, skills, areas of strength, and talents.
ENGINEERING CHALLENGE
Our Engineering Challenge asks students to design, build, and test load-bearing structures created from specific materials.
- Design and build a bridge that will be assembled during the Presentation.
- Move weight across the bridge to test its strength.
- Create and present a story about an unexpected connection and its outcome.
- Design and create a set piece that transitions between settings.
- Create and present two Team Choice Elements that show off your team’s interests, skills, areas of strength, and talents.
SERVICE LEARNING CHALLENGE
Our Service Learning Challenge is designed to engage students in public service that addresses real-life community issues.
- Identify, design, carry out, and evaluate a project that addresses a need in a real community.
- Create and present a story that shows at least one character in a race against time.
- Integrate information about the project into the story.
- Design and build a device that represents time and highlights milestones from the project.
- Create and present two Team Choice Elements that show off your team’s interests, skills, areas of strength, and talents.
IMPROVISATIONAL CHALLENGE
Our Improvisational Challenge is all about research, spontaneity, and storytelling. Teams receive topics and produce skits right on the spot.
- Research superpowers and how they are portrayed in comic books, literature, film, and other media.
- Create and present an improvisational skit about a villain who uses a superpower to cause an unexpected situation.
- Include a hero who uses an underwhelming power to try to overcome the unexpected situation.
- Enhance the skit with sound effects.
REARLY LEARNING / RISING STARS
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Our Rising Stars for Early Learners Challenge offers simple experiences with the creative process, and it gives young kids (preschool through 2nd grade) a place to work together and make new friends.
- Create and present a play about characters who travel from one planet to another.
- Include something surprising that happens during the trip.
- Design and create a puppet to use in the play.
- Launch team-created rockets during the play.
- Create costumes, props, and scenery to help tell the story.
INSTANT CHALLENGE
Instant Challenges require teams to engage in quick, creative and critical thinking.
In a world with growing cultural connections, increased levels and types of communication, and a new need for real-time teamwork and problem solving, the ability to solve problems quickly is becoming increasingly critical.
At a tournament, a team will receive an Instant Challenge and the materials with which to solve it. The team members must think on their feet by applying appropriate skills to produce a solution in a period of just five to eight minutes.
Instant Challenges are performance-based, task-based, or a combination of the two. Although each Instant Challenge has different requirements, all Instant Challenges reward teams for their teamwork. Instant Challenges are kept confidential through the day of the tournament.