In our Season 3 finale, host Paige Curtis chats with our first guest who is also a current DI participant! Nikhita Penugonda is a high school junior who is passionate about math, astronomy, and physics. In this episode, Nikhita shares her experiences with the Million Girls Moonshot Inaugural Flight Crew, how DI has made an impact on her studies, and how she likes to give back to her community. In this episode, we invite you to attend a Destination Imagination Information Session to learn more ab...
Jun 08, 2023•21 min•Ep. 20
Host Michele Tuck-Ponder sits down with Mark-Eugene Garcia, playwright and manager at the Drama Book Shop. Mark tells us about his writing process, offers advice to aspiring writers, and shares the importance of collaboration in the theatre. In this interview, Mark tells us about the Queens Theatre’s production of his play, Eight Tales of Pedro . While that production has since closed, the script to Eight Tales of Pedro is available here. This week, we ask you to consider making a charitable don...
Jun 01, 2023•23 min•Ep. 19
Host Andrew Whitmire sits down with Nini White, author of Kids Own Wisdom and host of the Big Picture podcast! In this episode, Nini shares how her struggles in school led to her becoming a teacher, how education can help unlock a student’s potential, and why “questions are the answer”. In this episode, we invite you to attend a Destination Imagination Information Session to learn more about DI’s educational experiences and why they matter. To view a session live or on demand, visit our website....
May 25, 2023•34 min•Ep. 18
This week, our staff and volunteers are in Kansas City, Missouri for Global Finals 2023 . Global Finals is a one-of-a-kind event featuring top teams from all around the world. In this episode, some of our Alumni and Team Managers share their favorite experiences from this unique event. This week, we ask you to consider making a charitable donation to Destination Imagination. To learn more about how to give the gift of creativity through DI, visit our website. Music Attributions: Wallpaper by Kev...
May 18, 2023•17 min•Ep. 17
Tune in to Part 2 of our interview with Kevin Dua, history teacher with Boston Public Schools. Part 1 is available here. In this episode, Kevin describes ways we can support current educators and answers our rapid fire questions! In this episode, we invite you to attend a Destination Imagination Information Session to learn more about DI’s educational experiences and why they matter. To view a session live or on demand, visit our website. Click here to listen to this week’s episode. A transcript...
May 11, 2023•16 min•Ep. 16
This week’s episode features special guest Kevin Dua, history teacher for Boston Public Schools. In Part 1 of our interview with Kevin, he shares his unexpected journey into the world of education and tells us about how he creates a learning environment for students to break world records. This week, we ask you to consider making a charitable donation to Destination Imagination. To learn more about how to give the gift of creativity through DI, visit our website. Click here to listen to the epis...
May 04, 2023•28 min•Ep. 15
This week, we speak with Oaklee Thiele, artist and disability activist. Oaklee tells us about her creative process as an artist, including how she adapts her artistic procedures to meet her own access needs. She also describes the origin of the My Dearest Friends project, which provides a creative platform for disabled people to share their stories, and the #NothingSpecial campaign, which advocates for disability rights in education. In this episode, we invite you to attend a Destination Imagina...
Apr 27, 2023•27 min•Ep. 14
In our Season 3 premiere, host Michele Tuck-Ponder welcomes Dr. Chris Jones, Chief Technology Officer of iRobot Corporation. Dr. Jones shares insights about the invention process, the importance of multi-disciplinary learning, and his thoughts on technologies of the future. He also offers advice for students who are interested in pursuing a career in robotics! If you’re looking for tips on how to make your Roomba “respect” you, you won’t want to miss this episode. This week, we ask you to consid...
Apr 20, 2023•33 min•Ep. 13
In our season finale, host Michele Tuck-Ponder shares a conversation with DI’s Director of Education, Johnny Wells! Johnny tells us his opinions on the four Cs, shares how his 30 years as a teacher prepared him for the world of DI, and gives us some behind-the-scenes knowledge into how decisions are made at Destination Imagination HQ. You can learn more about Johnny and his role at DI by visiting our website. If you’d like to learn more about the STEAM Activities page mentioned in this week’s ep...
Jun 09, 2022•22 min•Season 2Ep. 8
This week, host Andrew Whitmire chats with Shira Ali, founder of REI Chics, a property management training and consulting firm. Shira takes us through the decision making process behind leaving her corporate job to start her own business, and gives us some insights to the many skill sets she uses in her work. You can learn more about Shira and her podcast, Manage Your Property with Ease , by visiting her website. This week, we ask you to learn more about Destination Imagination by signing up for...
Jun 02, 2022•29 min•Season 2Ep. 7
In this episode, host Michele Tuck-Ponder chats with the University of Dayton’s Teri Rizvi, author and co-founder of the Erma Bombeck Writers Workshop. Teri tells us about the inspiration behind the creation of this famous writing workshop. We also learn more about Teri’s new book, One Heart with Courage , and how she finds time to pursue writing in addition to her other responsibilities. You can learn more about Teri on her website , or click here to learn more about the Erma Bombeck Writers Wo...
May 26, 2022•23 min•Season 2Ep. 6
This week, most of our staff and volunteers are in Kansas City, Missouri, for our Global Finals tournament. If you’ve never attended Global Finals, it’s an event unlike any other - so we asked some of our alumni to describe their experience for you. This week, we ask you to consider making a charitable donation to Destination Imagination. Click here to make your contribution today. A transcript of this episode is available here. Music Attributions: Wallpaper by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incomp...
May 19, 2022•8 min•Season 2Ep. 5
In this week’s episode, host Michele Tuck-Ponder chats with Antwaun Thompson, aka Coach T, Executive Director of JLT Fieldhouse and owner of Coach T’s Corner. Coach T shares his stories from the basketball court and tells us about the leadership skills that can be gained through team sports. You can learn more about Coach T and his leadership programs by visiting his website. This week, we ask you to learn more about Destination Imagination by signing up for our introductory webinar. Visit our w...
May 12, 2022•28 min•Season 1Ep. 4
“I don’t balance. Nope. I feel like that’s just not a thing. There is no balance…communication research backs this up; you shouldn’t multitask…your brain doesn’t work that way. When I’m doing news, I am just doing news.” - Malika Dudley This week, host Paige Curtis sits down with Malika Dudley, broadcast meteorologist for KITV4 Island News in Hawaii! Malika talks us through her process for communicating big information with the masses and how remote work options opened up new possibilities. Mali...
May 05, 2022•24 min•Season 2Ep. 3
“My advice: Follow your heart. Follow your dreams. Work hard. Show you can do.” - John Cronin “Don’t ever focus on somebody’s limitations. Be awed by the possibilities.” - Mark X. Cronin Part 2 of 2! Join us for Part 2 of our interview with John and Mark Cronin, founders of John’s Crazy Socks. In this episode, John and Mark tell us more about their advocacy work for people with differing abilities, how they use communication in the workplace, and their initiatives to spread happiness. John even ...
Apr 28, 2022•21 min•Season 2Ep. 2
“We’re in this for the long haul, so we’re looking to make personal connections and share the experience with our customers - we’re looking to create an experience for our customers. Once you believe that, then it becomes manifest in everything you do.” - Mark X. Cronin In our Season 2 premiere, host Paige Curtis sits down with John and Mark Cronin, a father and son duo who are the founders of John’s Crazy Socks. In part 1 of our interview with John and Mark, they share the origin story of their...
Apr 21, 2022•19 min•Season 2Ep. 1
WE'RE BACK! Season 2 of What's the Big Idea? debuts April 21. Join us for a new round of interviews, including authors, teachers, entrepreneurs, meteorologists, and more! What's the Big Idea? is available wherever you get your podcasts. Music Attributions: Wallpaper by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song... License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license TRANSCRIPT: MICHELE: Hi, I’m Michele Tuck-Ponder, Executive Director of Destination Imagination and host of DI’s career po...
Mar 29, 2022•2 min
“I see some young adults - and it kinda frustrates me a little bit - at top notch universities, that cannot really critically think. They know how to use the tools, and they know how to get direction, but if I say ‘Solve this problem’ and it’s kind of an open ended problem, they’ll basically be asking for a set of instructions. And so that ability to really look and abstract the problem - it’s something we really need to develop very early on.” - Ted Tagami Part 2 of 2! In our Season 1 finale, g...
Oct 21, 2021•16 min•Season 1Ep. 12
“You want someone to feel something if you’re going to be involved in an experience. And for me, learning meant I needed to remember something. Like, I remember my dad tripping over me in the early morning hours, because I was watching on this black and white TV on this big ol’ console there in the living room because they were going to the moon - and I remember that moment….those moments are seared in our mind. And if we can create experiences that are memorable like that...you have to create a...
Oct 14, 2021•26 min•Season 1Ep. 12
“I would love to touch on this from a perspective of, like, if you might believe differently from me, I still want this to apply to you if you’re listening to this. So, for me, I think all of us can resonate with the idea that we want to make a difference in the world...I was able to learn from so many different beliefs - around my own faith, even!...and so I think I was able to become a better songwriter because I was able to understand different cultures and different ways of thinking.” - Rach...
Oct 07, 2021•28 min•Season 1Ep. 11
“I am fully owning what makes me different, what makes me unique - and once we are able to fully own what makes us unique, we regain control over our narrative. And we are no longer controlled by the fear of being judged for not being like everyone else.” - Joze Piranian In today’s episode, guest host Paige Curtis chats with Joze Piranian, award-winning motivational speaker and stand-up comedian who’s known for his TEDx presentations and his workshops on inclusion and resilience. Joze opens up a...
Sep 30, 2021•42 min•Season 1Ep. 10
“You have to learn to be a beginner again. And there’s a lot of creativity in that beginner place, but it’s not very comfortable.” - Gail Bower This week host Michele Tuck-Ponder sits down with Gail Bower, Revenue Strategist with Bower & Company Consulting LLC. Gail chats with us about how her love of creative writing and a set of career textbooks led to a career in public relations, what it means to be a consultant, and the decision making process behind making a career change. In this epis...
Sep 23, 2021•26 min•Season 1Ep. 9
“I’m very excited because in my job, not only do I personally get to be creative and do fun things, but I also feel that the work we’re doing is making a difference in our community. Whether it’s teaching a young person and helping them with their self-confidence, or creating a platform for queer youth to talk to parents and talk to teachers and talk to administrators about what’s going on...that is so important.” - Brian Guehring In this week’s episode, host Michele Tuck-Ponder sits down with B...
Sep 16, 2021•36 min•Season 1Ep. 8
“I knew, even at a young age, that I wanted to spend the rest of my life giving back. I wanted to spend the rest of my existence pouring into others and making the world a better place. Because, quite frankly, when we leave, we don’t take anything with us - you know? We don’t take anything with us, but we do leave a legacy.” - Gabrielle Gay This week, guest host Andrew Whitmire interviews Gabrielle Gay, an education activist and influencer from Barbados. Gabrielle discusses how her supportive fa...
Sep 09, 2021•37 min•Season 1Ep. 7
“You walk into a job, and you don’t necessarily...you don’t know these people, you don’t know their backgrounds, you’re going to have differences - as you should! We all should be different and come in with different ideas and different beliefs and different backgrounds or upbringing. ” - Marshall Rainey If you’ve ever wondered exactly how tall Godzilla is, this week’s episode is for you. This week, guest host Paige Curtis chats with Marshall Rainey, Visual Effects Manager for films such as Zach...
Sep 02, 2021•33 min•Season 1Ep. 6
“New things only come from being creative. If we just accept tradition and only do traditional things going into the future, then we aren’t going to make any progress.” - Dr. Chawne Kimber In the latest episode of What’s the Big Idea? , Michele interviews Dr. Chawne Kimber, Dean of the College and Washington and Lee University. Dr. Kimber describes how her Southern roots and her spirit of competition led to a career as a mathematics professor. Dr. Kimber also tells us more about the value of men...
Aug 26, 2021•31 min•Season 1Ep. 5
“Communication is a big piece of every job I’ve ever had. If you have the best idea in the world, but you can’t explain it to people, or explain it in a way that they can understand...your idea doesn’t matter.” - Chloe Kontos Part 2 of 2! Guest host Paige Curtis continues her conversation with Chloe Kontos, the incoming Director of the Office of the CTO at MD Anderson Cancer Center. In Part 2, Chloe details how she used the four Cs (communication, collaboration, creativity, critical thinking) in...
Aug 19, 2021•28 min•Season 1Ep. 4
“I’m not a scientist, but that doesn’t mean that I can’t work on these issues or work in this domain. So I think that it’s really important to have the courage to try out different domains and areas and not think that you need to be an expert. There are generalist roles in these STEM fields...and that means that you are part of the STEM workforce.” - Chloe Kontos Part 1 of 2! This week guest host Paige Curtis speaks with Chloe Kontos, the incoming Director of the Office of the CTO at MD Anderson...
Aug 12, 2021•30 min•Season 1Ep. 4
“I think one of the biggest things that I feel like kids could learn is how to work well with others, how to collaborate, how to be able to listen to their teammates, and also how to accept constructive feedback because that will go very, very, very, very far no matter what field that you are in and what industry because it’s so important.” - Grace Hsiu In this episode, we talk with Grace Hsiu, Senior Manager of Artist Strategy at Platoon, an artist-centric record label owned by Apple. Learn how...
Aug 05, 2021•27 min•Season 1Ep. 3
“Realize that there’s no expectation that you must get it all right. That’s where that grace comes in. But really being genuine and recognizing that I don’t know everything, whomever’s having that conversation may not know everything, but they’re open and willing to learn...grace is huge. I cannot stress that enough.” - India Sylvester In our latest episode, we are joined by India Sylvester, Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer at Lumen Technologies. India tells us about how her love of reading...
Jul 29, 2021•32 min•Season 1Ep. 2
