Academy of Science & Technology in The Woodlands Wins Destination Imagination Global Finals for Second Consecutive Year; Watch their winning video

THE WOODLANDS, TX — “The Timekeepers” team won Destination Imagination Global Finals again this past week! Team members Abram, Naman, Marley, Jonathan, Perrin, and Rheanna, are students at The Academy of Science & Technology at The Woodlands College Park High School.

“Destination Imagination (DI) is a global educational nonprofit dedicated to inspiring the next generation of innovators, leaders and creative problem solvers.” - www.destinationimagination.org

Their winning project depicts a dramatized experience of what it’s like to have schizophrenia. To help spread awareness, it shows common symptoms and behaviors of the condition. They also won a special Renaissance Award, just as they did last year, and this is what the judges had to say:

“Inspired by Goodnight Moon, a young bunny’s comfortable bedroom and familiar bedtime routines unravel into chaos as a schizophrenic episode overtakes the bunny’s reality. This team’s meticulously designed set and the cleverly conceived transformation it makes over the course of their Music Video demonstrates the team’s exceptional creative artistry, workmanship, and storytelling. Using carefully controlled lighting and well-planned camera shots, the video draws us into the schizophrenic bunny’s hallucinations as we experience its chaos, confusion, and the pain of being misunderstood. Design choices such as peeling wallpaper, an insanity-inducing rocking chair, and an unsympathetic grandmother whispering 'Hush...' further elevate this solution to a place amongst the stars.”

- Watch the winning video here -

In this challenge, the team had to:
• Research music videos and create a music video
• Use music and lyrics to retell all or part of a piece of literature
• Design and build a costume
• Research production techniques to enhance the music video
• Create and present two Team Choice Elements that show off the team's interests, skills, areas of strength, and talents

- Watch the project explanation video - for a behind-the-scenes look into the hard work and dedication it took to pull this off.

“I’m over-the-top proud of this exceptional team that continues to rise above all challenges to show the world what creativity, perseverance, diligence, sweat-pouring intention, commitment and teamwork can do,” said parent and Team Manager, Cindy Kim. “I’ve said this before, and it still rings true: these kids are our future!”

An interview with the team:

- How stoked are you to be Global Champions? (!!!)

Perrin:  “Honestly, I’m still processing the fact that we won. I can’t really put into words how ecstatic I am that we came out on top for the second year in a row, it’s incredible to me. Combined with the message of our main skit and the challenges this past year has thrown at us, the win is just that much more special to me.”

- What does the win mean to you personally?

Perrin: “It means that anything is possible. It was my first year to be a part of this awesome team, and although I had a lot of nerves and doubts at first, that was soon washed away as soon as the season kicked in. The right people, the right skills, the willpower and the collective boundless passion to learn, perform, and grow were what made a seemingly impossible vision possible. When I first joined, I wouldn’t have thought that we would be able to successfully create the skit that we did. But we did it, and it made that saying of, ‘team work makes the dream work,’ represent so much more to me.”

Rheanna: “Receiving this second consecutive win really just puts perspective on how much you can achieve when you put together a team of creative, outgoing, and intellectual mindsets.”

- What made you choose Goodnight Moon as your piece of literature?

Rheanna: “As a team we decided that whatever literature piece we chose, we wanted to give it a completely new meaning. Goodnight Moon by itself had no deep underlying message, so it seemed like the perfect blank slate to build our new theme upon.”

Jonathan: “So this year, the challenge we chose required us to create an original music video that retells a piece of literature. Because we had to retell the piece of literature, we thought it would be the most impactful if we chose something that was relatively well-known, but still something that we didn’t think any other team would think of doing. Our thought process was that if the piece of literature was well-known, that would make the retelling aspect much more powerful because the audience would already have an expectation of what the literature is, and a clever retelling could flip it on its head. We love the idea of using Goodnight Moon because it is an innocent, plotless, and simple children’s story with no true message. What we’ve done in our retelling is tell the story through the mature and complex lens of schizophrenia with a clear message that we are trying to communicate: People with schizophrenia are in a living nightmare, and we can’t shut the door on them.”

- What did you learn through creating this project? 

Jonathan: “We believe that the cleverness and uniqueness of our retelling with complexity and a stirring message is what secured us First Place and the Renaissance Award. However, it is clear that winning is not our end of the season. While winning was gratifying in knowing that all of our hard work was recognized and that our video left an impact on those who watched it, the heart of our video and our true calling for this year’s DI season lies in the message that we are trying to communicate in our video. Our team did not just compete in DI with our video for competition sake, but to use DI as a platform to share our message. We hope that more than just winning the title of First Place, that our video can reach even outside of DI in order to spread awareness on what we believe is a pressing issue. With that being said, please watch our video and share it! Making an impact and changing our world for the better is infinitely more than winning, and that’s what DI is all about!”

Congratulations to The Timekeepers!!