DI article on LPS website

The Irving DI team is featured in an article on the LPS website. Our "A New Angle Team" is also mentioned at the end for placing third at the state tournament!

Riley at Affiliate Finals

Our two Riley teams did a fantastic job at Affiliate Finals this weekend. Congratulations to our "A New Angle" team that earned third place! We'll look forward to adding your team trophy to our display. Our "Private DI" team was fifth in their division standings. The kids had a fun time during and after the competition. Some favorite activities were Hoopla, Silent Auction, Jar Raffles, and just hanging out with team mates.

Special congratulations to Riley DI alum Cecilia whose middle school team placed first in "A New Angle" - she'll be heading back to Global Finals - her first trip was as a third grader at Riley.

Thank you to all our Riley Team Managers and Appraisers for all your hard work and deDIcation. Thanks also to the kids who have worked so hard this season. I will miss working with you next season - but I fully expect to see many more years of Riley DI teams as our parents continue to serve as Team Managers and supporters.

Our end-of-season team party will be announced soon!
.

Regional DI Tournament

Click to view a slideshow from Regionals

Our four Riley DI and Rising Stars teams traveled to Plattsmouth Middle School on March 14 for the Region 5 DI Tournament. The teams all did a fabulous job of sharing their solutions in the challenges: Hidden, Instinct Messaging, Private DI, and A New Angle. Following competition, the kids took advantage of the nice weather and played outside, visited Dairy Queen, played their DS's, and tried to wait patiently for awards ceremony.

Congratulations to the "Private DI" and "A New Angle" teams that advanced on to Affiliate Finals. It was also fun to see many former Riley DI kids competing at the middle school level. All teams should be proud of their solutions and their teamwork during the season. Thank you to our Appraisers and Team Managers!
.

A New Angle visits NET

The Riley Challenge E team took a field trip to visit the NET production studios. This trip related to the theme of their original skit as required in their challenge. The team got to take a tour of the studio plus enjoy some hands-on experiences with the production equipment. View photos of the field trip here.
.

Steve Kiene visits Riley DI

Riley DI kids enjoyed visiting with Steve Kiene on December 15, 2008. Steve and Pamela Kiene have been generous supporters of Riley DI teams. Steve shared how he has used the DI concepts of creativity, teamwork, and problem solving to build successful software companies. He emphasized that kids have the ability to excel at their area of interest and to not let someone else tell them that they can't fulfill their dreams. He discussed how it can take many ideas to find one that might actually work out, but to not give up. Kids from Riley have the ability to compete on the global stage, whether in DI or in life.

The Chorific team from last year also presented Steve with a plaque, thanking Steven and Pamela Kiene for their sponsorship of their trip to Global Finals.

View pictures of Steve's visit
.

Dr. Jason Ohler

On Monday, December 1 we were privileged to have Dr. Jason Ohler join us via webcam to help build the teams' skills on story planning, writing, and presentation. Dr. Ohler is a professor in Alaska and specializes in effective storytelling. He was actually in Louisiana in a hotel room while working with us! To learn more about Dr. Ohler visit http://www.jasonohler.com/
.

CiCi's Pizza Night

Plan on eating supper at CiCi's Pizza at 27th and Superior on Thursday, November 13 - proceeds from that evening will be donated to Riley DI. Encourage your friends and neighbors to go as well - and make sure they tell CiCi's that they are there to support Riley Elementary.