While it may not be the biggest school in the area, the International School of Texas continues to punch well above its weight. For the second year in a row, IST teams placed in the top three at Destination Imagination Global Finals, outperforming thousands of teams from across Texas—and around the world, from Poland to China.
This year’s 5th grade team had a remarkable run. They won first place overall at Regionals, earned the highest Instant Challenge score, and were awarded a Renaissance Award for their innovative interactive backdrop. At Texas State Finals, competing against the top 40 teams in the state, the team finished 2nd overall—once again earning the top score in the Instant Challenge. Then, on Sunday night in Kansas City, the team proudly took the stage once more, finishing 3rd at Global Finals.
“Finishing in the top three out of an estimated 1,500 teams from 27 countries is an incredible accomplishment,” said team manager Steve Welch. “I couldn’t be prouder of how hard these kids have worked.”
This marks the seventh team that Steve and Nicole Welch have coached to Global Finals. Last year, Nicole’s IST Middle School team took 1st place in the Engineering Challenge—a rare victory for a U.S. team in a category long dominated by Chinese competitors.
Destination Imagination is one of the world’s leading education nonprofits focused on experiential, team-based problem solving. With operations in 27 countries across 6 continents, DI provides students with the opportunity to develop creative thinking, resilience, and collaboration through real-world challenges in STEM, the arts, and service learning. Its impact is backed by data: students who participate in DI show significantly stronger skills in creativity, critical thinking, and teamwork compared to their peers.
“The International School of Texas offers a hands-on, inquiry-driven curriculum that truly sparks creativity and independent thought—and it’s showing in the results,” said Nicole Welch, a mother of four and a Steiner Ranch resident for more than a decade.
Since opening its Lakeway campus last year, IST has seen rapid growth and increased recognition. While still relatively small—with approximately 200 students from pre-Kindergarten through 10th grade—the school’s performance in Destination Imagination is just one example of how its students are being prepared for the world they will inherit, not just the next test.
Contributed by International School of Texas