ARDI would like to focus this year on “leveling-up” the affiliate DI experience! What does this mean:
· We will offer DI to more students than ever before.
· We will offer Team Managers and coordinators more support.
· We will work to surprise and delight volunteers and students alike throughout the season right here in Arkansas.
If you have ideas, we’d love to hear them! Just drop us an email at or give Christine a call at 815-878-2597. You can also reach out to your school coordinators to provide feedback.
Season Kick-off Meetings / Awareness Nights
Each year ARDI offers to attend or present materials about DI. We have volunteers and alumni versed in all things DI to share information with your schools, administrators, parents, students, team managers, and other volunteers.
We currently have events scheduled with Greenbrier and Bryant and are working with the Little Rock School District to schedule their event(s).
If you would like to schedule a customized “All About DI” meeting, just let us know and we’ll set-up time with you.
TRAINING & RESOURCE OPPORTUNITIES
ARDI Webinars will be offered Tuesday and Thursday evenings. Webinars will be recorded. The series of topics will be offered 2 times in the fall:
Team Manager Certification is available online through DI Training. Training as been updated for this season. So, even if you’ve taken the courses in the past, you’ll learn new things relevant for this season. To Login to the Learning Management System (LMS), click here.
Team Meeting Visits are available to any team manager may sign-up to have an experienced team manager/challenge master/training director attend your team meeting as a guest. During this session, you can get hands on advice for you and your team. Our experienced volunteers will provide you with all the tips you need to lead a successful team, without interference, of course.
New Team Success Program is new this year. Essentially, it is a mentoring program for new team managers. New Team Managers will be assigned a specific experienced DI volunteer to help guide you throughout your season. That person will be your GOTO resource for all your DI questions. In addition, a check list has been developed to help guide you through the season. For those experienced Team Managers out there that would like to volunteer as a mentor, let us know and we’ll connect you with a New Team. (If you’re already doing this within our own school district, reach out to us at and we’ll arm you with the check-list and sign you up as an official DI mentor.)
YOUTH PROTECTION POLICY & BACKGROUND CHECKS
You may have read DIHQ’s blog about our new DI Youth Protection Policy. If not, you can find the blog post here. As an organization that provides programs and events for youth, the commitment to safety is a top priority for Destination Imagination (DI) and we strive to provide every team member with the safest possible experience. In Arkansas, we believe this is extremely important and will be adopting the policies set forth in the DI Policy. Specifics for the Arkansas Destination Imagination Policies will be published by the end of September. I think you can agree that the protection of our children is a priceless endeavor!
As part of the new policy, like many volunteer organizations, ARDI will be requiring Board of Directors, Challenge Masters, Program Officials, Team Coordinators and Team Managers to undergo annual background checks. This year, the background checks will be performed at NO EXPENSE to our volunteers. We are in the final stages of selecting a background check provider. I can assure you that the vendors we are currently evaluating are easy to use and very quick… It’s all an online process which will require very little of your time. I know it is just one more thing we need to do as volunteers, but it is paramount to ensuring the safety of our children.
THANK YOU!
I would like to personal ly thank you for being a part of an organization that invests time and energy into the future generation with such passion.
DI’s vision is to inspire and equip participants to achieve anything they can imagine in life! Thank you for being part of that vision!
DI is focused on helping affiliates stay relevant in a world where students have more opportunities than they have ever had before. We need students to embrace the Destination Imagination educational experience…Strike that… Students need Destination Imagination. It will set them apart from their peers when planning for a future we haven’t even imagined.
Here’s to an awesome year! Thank you for taking the ride with us!
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