Destination Imagination Global Finals 2025 Results

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

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Destination Imagination Global Finals 2025 Results

Organization Celebrates International Finalists, Special Award Winners 

KANSAS CITY (May 25, 2025) – Nearly 10,000 attendees from around the globe have gathered in downtown Kansas City for the Destination Imagination (DI) Global Finals 2025, the culminating celebration of a season dedicated to student-driven creativity, collaboration, and innovation. Held May 22–25 at the Kansas City Convention Center, the event marks the exciting conclusion of the 2024-25 DI season, which engaged over 30,000 students worldwide.

More than 600 of the top-ranking student teams—representing 30 U.S. states and 13 countries—have earned their place at Global Finals by excelling in regional and national competitions. Their challenge solutions span disciplines such as engineering, storytelling, improvisation, and performance, showcasing remarkable ingenuity and teamwork. These students are the best of the best, exemplifying DI’s mission to inspire and equip the next generation of leaders and innovators.

“We are continually inspired by the incredible talent, creativity, and determination displayed by the students at Global Finals,” said Michele Tuck-Ponder, executive director of Destination Imagination, Inc. “Reaching this level takes exceptional skill and perseverance, and seeing these young innovators challenge themselves—and each other—in the spirit of friendly competition truly embodies what DI stands for. The global friendships and connections they build along the way give me great hope for the future.”

The teams compete in a variety of challenges based around different areas of creativity. Each challenge must incorporate two ‘Team Choice Elements’ that show off the team’s interests, skills, areas of strength and talents.

• Breaking Point – a technical challenge where participants design and build assembly and destruction equipment to create and dismantle a stack of items. Teams present a story about a character who lacks something important and attempts to gain it.
• This or That – a service learning challenge where participants identify and carry out a project addressing a real community need. They present a story about a character facing a critical choice, including at least two potential outcomes, a complication, and a device that completes two different tasks from the same initiation.
• Worlds Beyond – a scientific challenge where teams create and present a story about a character who believes they are alone on a planet but discovers otherwise. The presentation includes technobabble and a scientific demonstration explaining a phenomenon of the planet.
• Are We There Yet? – an improvisational challenge where teams create and present a skit about a character traveling between two locations, incorporating a seeker, a detour, and a mode of transportation.
• Less is More – a fine arts challenge where participants tell a story about how something small or simple can create a big impact. The presentation includes a focal character, an emotional moment, and a minimalist set design.
• High-Wire Act – an engineering challenge where teams design and build a transporter to carry weights along a tournament-provided cord. The presentation is styled as a contemporary circus performance, including a daring display and ensemble spectacle.

While it is exceptional for all of the teams present to be part of this competition, there is a definite number of winning teams that have shown exemplary creativity and problem-solving ability through their presentations. 

For the Destination Imagination Global Finals 2025 competition, the following teams have won their respective challenges, listed in order of placement. The winners of the Instant Challenge – quick, creative and critical-thinking exercises given to the students to complete day-of – are listed by ‘HIC’ following the top three teams. 

Technical Challenge – Breaking Point

• Elementary Level
  • 1st Place: Pole Star – Nanjing Zhiyuan Foreign Language Primary School, China
  • 2nd Place: The Mighty Squirrel, Shanghai Changning Yuyuan Road No.1 ES, China
  • 3rd Place: Galatas Greyhounds Tech, Galatas Elementary, The Woodlands, Texas
  • HIC – The Mighty Squirrel, Shanghai Changning Yuyuan Road No.1 ES, China
• Middle Level 
  • 1st Place: Spiky Bubbles, St. Thomas More Middle School, Rapid City, South Dakota
  • 2nd Place: Seven Plus, Shanghai Jianping Experimental Middle School, China
  • 3rd Place: Industrialists, McMeans Junior High, Katy, Texas
  • HIC – Flying Pigs, Knox Jr. High, The Woodlands, Texas
• Secondary Level
  • 1st Place (tie): The Blood-Thirsty Banana Slugs, South Pasadena DI, South.Pasadena, California
  • 1st Place (tie): Revengeful Mushrooms, Centerville HS, Centerville, Ohio
  • 2nd Place (tie)Neon Screaming Afroed Goats, Badger, Lake Geneva, Wisconsin
  • 2nd Place (tie): Tilted Towers, Canyon Crest Academy, San Diego, California
  • 3rd Place: Safe-ish, D’Arcy McGee High School, Gatineau, Quebec
  • HIC – The Blood-Thirsty Banana Slugs, South Pasadena DI, South.Pasadena, California
• University Level
  • 1st Place: Spectacular Spectacles, Singley Academy, Irving, Texas

     

Service Learning Challenge – This or That

• Elementary Level
  • 1st Place: IncreDIble Rockstars, Cornerstone Elementary, Sugar Land, Texas
  • 2nd Place: The Cosmic Seven, Ortiz Elementary, Brownsville, Texas
  • 3rd Place: D.I.Maxion, LaRue Miller, Midlothian, Texas
  • HIC –  D.I.Maxion, LaRue Miller, Midlothian, Texas
• Middle Level 
  • 1st Place: Play It Forward , Hutchinson-Evans Middle School, Lubbock, Texas
  • 2nd Place: SNiBLeS, St. Louis Catholic School, Austin, Texas
  • 3rd Place: WYJECI Z kontaktu, NSP Sw. Tomasza z Akwinu, Brzeg, Poland
  • HIC – WYJECI Z kontaktu, NSP Sw. Tomasza z Akwinu, Brzeg, Poland
• Secondary Level
  • 1st Place: Dairy Queens, Round Rock High School, Cedar Park, Texas
  • 2nd Place: DIvine, Academy of Science and Technology, The Woodlands, Texas
  • 3rd Place: DI of the Tiger, Briscoe Middle School, San Antonio, Texas
  • HIC – The Stardust Crusaders, Veterans Memorial Early College High School, Brownsville, Texas
• University Level
  • 1st Place: PSJA StranDId, PSJA ECHS & PSJA Collegiate School of Health Pro, San Juan
  • 2nd Place: DInamic DInosaurs, Brownsville Early College High School, Brownsville
  • HIC – PSJA StranDId, PSJA ECHS & PSJA Collegiate School of Health Pro, San Juan

     

Scientific Challenge – Worlds Beyond

• Elementary Level
  • 1st Place: Kepler-452b Rescue , Steam Fun, Belmont, Massachusetts
  • 2nd Place: Purple Popsicle, Pattison Elementary, Katy, Texas
  • 3rd Place: D’Insteins, International School of Texas, Austin, Texas
  • HIC – Intergalactic Space Pigs, Coulson Tough Elementary, The Woodlands, Texas
• Middle Level 
  • 1st Place: The Diamond F7ies, Gale Ranch/ Windmere Middle School, San Ramon, California
  • 2nd Place: Wait…What?!?!, Medlin Middle School, Ft. Worth, Texas
  • 3rd Place (tie): Dawn Defender, Shenzhen Senior High School, China
  • 3rd Place (tie): Just The Four of Us, Sevastopol School, Sevastopol, Wisconsin
  • HIC – The Delusional Gnomes, Pierce Middle School, Grosse Pointe, Michigan
• Secondary Level
  • 1st Place: The Mean Green Beans, Mercer Island High School, Mercer Island, 
  • 2nd Place: NovaCore, Experimental HS Attached to Beijing Normal University, 
  • 3rd Place: Ride or DI, Glenelg Country School US, Ellicott City, Maryland
  • HIC – TIC-Tators, Academy of Science and Technology, The Woodlands, Texas
• University Level
  • 1st Place: Code Black The Finale, Veterans ECHS, Brownsville
  • 2nd Place (tie): Space Raiders, Rivera ECHS, Brownsville
  • 2nd Place (tie): Jubilerros, Jubilee Brownsville, San Antonio
  • HIC – Code Black The Finale, Veterans ECHS, Brownsville

     

Improvisational Challenge – Are We There Yet?

• Elementary Level
  • 1st Place: Small Tail, Beijing ETU School, China
  • 2nd Place: GIRL POWER, Emine Örnek Schools, Nilüfer, Turkey
  • 3rd Place: DI Busters, Hudson Elementary, Brownsville, Texas
  • HIC – The Four Weirdos, Louisa May Alcott Elementary, Redmond, Washington
• Middle Level
  • 1st Place: The fournadoes, Immaculate Conception Grade School, Elmhurst, Illinois
  • 2nd Place: WELL DONE POTATOES!!!, Windemer Ranch MS, San Ramon, California
  • 3rd Place: PLZ NEXT, Beijing ETU School, China
  • HIC – Improvateers, Sipayik Elementary, Perry, Maine
• Secondary Level
  • 1st Place: Teenagers & Tiaras, Midlothian High School, Midlothian, Texas
  • 2nd Place: Puppet ID Card, HS Affiliated to Renmin University of China, China
  • 3rd Place (tie): Definitely NOT the Dodecahedrons, Independent Virginia Beach Team, Virginia Beach, Virginia
  • 3rd Place (tie): This Might Work, Mascoma High School, Canaan, New Hampshire
  • HIC – Mission Improvable, Oakwood HS, Dayton, Ohio
• University Level
  • 1st Place: Baddies at Law, Singley Academy, Irving
  • 2nd Place: The Clic, Rivera ECHS, Brownsville
  • 3rd Place: Finding Bernard, Vistas Early College High School, Klein ISD
  • HIC – Baddies at Law, Singley Academy, Irving

     

Fine Arts Challenge – Less is More

• Elementary Level
  • 1st Place: The Dazzling Six Bananas, BMP Ridge Street School, Rye Brook, New York
  • 2nd Place: We Die for DI, Independent, Redmond, Washington
  • 3rd Place (tie): Shiny Stars, Erkan Ulu Schools, Besiktas /Istanbul, Turkey
  • 3rd Place (tie): Cells of White, Sweetwater Intermediate School, Sweetwater, Texas
  • 3rd Place (tie): Brilliant Bees, San Patricio International School, Monterrey, Mexico
  • HIC – Wild Bulls, EuroCampestre, Monterrey, Mexico
• Middle Level
  • 1st Place: To Eat or Not to Eat, Somers MS, Somers, New York
  • 2nd Place: The Seven Señoritas, Manzano Middle School, Brownsville, Texas
  • 3rd Place: Daring Dragons, McCullough Jr. High, The Woodlands, Texas
  • HIC – starBURST!!!, Campus Middle School, Greenwood Village, Colorado
• Secondary Level 
  • 1st Place: Vybukh, National Center “Junior Academy of Sciences of Ukraine”, Kyiv, Ukraine
  • 2nd Place: Vandegrift 1: Banana Split, Vandegrift High School, Leander, Texas
  • 3rd Place: COURTNEY, Academy of Science and Technology, The Woodlands, Texas
  • HIC – 5 to Infinity, James E. Taylor HS, Katy, Texas
• University Level
  • 1st Place: Maximum Jank, Colorado State University, Metropolitan State University, Golden, Colorado

     

Engineering Challenge – High-Wire Act

• Elementary Level
  • 1st Place: FuCheng Woo Fly, Yuyao Shinan Primary School, China
  • 2nd Place: The Crazed Monkeys, Mercer Island School District, Mercer Island, Washington
  • 3rd Place: Sevastopol SpectacularSpectacles, Sevastopol School, Sevastopol, Wisconsin
  • HIC – Cardboard Conductors, Highland Catholic School, Saint Paul, Minnesota
• Middle Level
  • 1st Place: Dudette Mcgonigal’s, Independent, Redmond, Washington
  • 2nd Place: Mechanical Cheetahs, Quail Valley Middle School, Sugar Land, Texas
  • 3rd Place: So, Beijing 57 High School, China
  • HIC – Six Spectacular Sandwiches, P.E. Wallace, Mount Pleasant, Texas
• Secondary Level
  • 1st Place: Loong 7, Beijing 57 High School, China
  • 2nd Place: Chaotic Cardboard Caterpillars, San Diego – Independent, San Diego, California
  • 3rd Place: 6th DImension, Clements/Dulles/Austin High School, Sugar Land, Texas
  • HIC – Loong 7, Beijing 57 High School, China
• University Level 
  • 1st Place: 7 Wonders, Porter High School, Brownsville

Additional awards of merit can be found on the website, showcasing the ingenuity of the teams in particularly exceptional ways. 

For more information about Global Finals, visit the website.

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About Destination Imagination

Destination Imagination, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) volunteer-led non-profit organization whose purpose is to inspire and equip students to become the next generation of innovators and leaders. The organization is a leader in project-based learning experiences, where students work together in teams to solve open-ended STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics) and service learning Challenges and then present their solutions at tournaments. Since its foundation in 1999, Destination Imagination has impacted more than one million students. To learn more, please visit http://destinationimagination.org.