When Sandra Henson first got involved in creative problem solving in 1984, she was a teacher at the Hutchison School, an independent school for girls in Memphis. Her husband soon joined, volunteering as an Appraiser from time to time but mostly just doing those unheralded tasks that keep the program running from year to year. Says Sandra, “Travel is my passion – Destination ImagiNation has been the journey of a lifetime.”
It seemed like DI might have skipped a generation in the Henson family. Sandra’s grandson, Kohl Henson, started participating in the second grade. “I fondly remember the happy-go-lucky little boy running around the stage performing all sorts of technical elements. His father, Blair, eventually served as an Appraiser until the family moved to Florida. That was our first three-generation experience.”
The Henson’s oldest grandson, Lee, fell heads-over-heels for CPS, participating as a team member from grade three all the way through high school. His seventh grade team won first place at the state and placed seventh at Finals at the University of Tennessee Knoxville, which was a memorable experience. Lee was a steady team member who completed intricate tasks without missing a cue.
Finally, in 1993, Sandra’s daughter, Beth, and her new husband, Costi Tudan, joined the fold. Beth had met Costi in his native Romania when she went as a Fulbright Fellow. Shortly after moving to Memphis, Costi, finding a novel way to get to his mother-in-law’s heart, volunteered as a Team Manager for third- and fourth- grade students who had been searching in vain for an adult leader. Beth helped, and the team surprised them by qualifying for state.
Costi created and ran the Regional and Affiliate websites. He also took digital pictures at tournaments and created presentations to entertain the troops before closing ceremonies. He received the state’s first “Spirit of DI” award to recognize his dedication to the program.
Meanwhile, Beth was busy appraising and serving as Challenge Master on both Regional and Affiliate levels. When their son, Paul, reached kindergarten, she organized a Rising Stars! team for him and his friends. What those children lacked in expertise, they more than made up in exuberance.
“My 20 years with creative problem solving, first as Team Manager and later as school Coordinator, Affiliate Director, Regional and Affiliate Challenge Master, Global Finals Head Appraiser, VOMBO Board member, and mother and grandmother, have brought me in contact with people from around the globe,” says Sandra. “Personal milestones include establishing the first program in Tennessee, accompanying 33 teams from Hutchison to Global Finals, being responsible for the Global Finals coming to the University of Tennessee Knoxville in 1991, involving my family in a program that I hold in high esteem, and (drum roll, please) introducing Susan Beth Purifico to creative problem solving.”
Beth Henson Tudan shares her mother’s fond memories of life, Destination ImagiNation-style. “Our first son, Paul, was born in 1997,” said Beth. “Without realizing it, we were parenting as Team Managers. We provided lots of oatmeal boxes and lids along with the store-bought toys. When our son would become frustrated with something, we would direct him to work it out himself.” She says her child is a natural.
“In kindergarten, when the teacher asked the class to create a diorama of an animal habitat, Paul decided to create one of bats because he was scared of them,” remembers Beth. “He asked to go to the library to find some books on bats and to research bats on the Internet. He did and then he wrote some facts on cards. He got a shoe box and the craft materials we had at home and began to work. He decided his bat needed to swing from the top of the box, so he tried several different approaches. He was proud of his work when he took it to school. When he came home, he had lots of comments.”
When Paul began Destination ImagiNation, he felt the program had been designed for him. He enjoys the Instant Challenges, the skit creation, and the prop building. He likes brainstorming with his teammates and creating stories. Beth, Paul and Costi have now moved to Germany and hope to start the program there for Paul, their younger son Alexander, and their classmates. As a third-generation Destination ImagiNation participant, Paul loves it just as much as his parents and grandparents. “Instant Challenges are fun because you test your teamwork and cooperation with all your teammates in only two minutes and it is really hard because you have barely any materials.”
