Destination ImagiNation® Marks 25th Anniversary

KNOXVILLE, Tenn., May 12 /PRNewswire/ -- A record 1,032 youth teams from throughout the world converge on this southern American city next week to compete for honors in the world's largest critical thinking and creative problem solving competition, sponsored by Destination ImagiNation Inc.

"This is a world record for us!" declared Rusty McCarty, vice president of creative programming for Destination ImagiNation Inc., a non-profit celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. "This has to be the largest educational conference on Planet Earth!"

More than 7,000 youth on 1,032 teams led by some 400 adult volunteers are headed to Knoxville May 21-24 to show how innovative and creative they can be in solving fun physical and mental challenges that require developing dramatic presentations, costuming, art and design, research, construction, communications skills, leadership and teamwork.

This year's key sponsors of Destination ImagiNation's Global Finals include the National Dairy Council, 3M Corporation, Association of Equipment Manufacturers, Saputo Cheese, Caterpillar, The American Humane Association, NX Level Solutions, Staples, Dollywood and the SciFi Channel.

In all, Destination ImagiNation will issue a total of nearly 18,000 credentials to team members, team managers, appraisers, families, friends, supporters, officials, media, visitors and other participants converging on Knoxville for the competition.

A record 121 teams from 15 foreign countries are competing in Global Finals 2008 -- another record.

Earlier this year, more than 200,000 young people in 40 foreign countries and the U.S. began the competitive process by taking part in local, state and regional tournaments in order to win the right to compete at Global Finals. Only 7,000 actually earned a spot.

The highly structured, demanding competitive challenges each team faces are developed by educators and subject matter experts, with assistance from the renowned Center for Creative Learning in Sarasota, FL.

Since its founding 25 years ago, Destination ImagiNation Inc. has challenged millions of young people to solve sets of challenges using creative thinking, teamwork, self confidence, mutual respect, research, innovation and leadership.

Destination ImagiNation Inc.'s critical thinking and creative problem solving programs range from pre-school through high school and college, and also include a corporate executive leadership development program widely used by some of America's leading businesses and the military.

For more information, please visit www.destinationimagination.org .

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