From left, Smith Middle School students Anagha Vemuru, Stuti Vittal, Nikhita Raavi, Anshi Putcha, Trisha Arun, Bethel Binoj and Anvi Putcha, Stellar Squad, hold their trophy after winning the “Win it Big” challenge at the 2026 Destination Imagination Global Finals in Kansas City, Missouri.

June 2, 2026—A Smith Middle School team won first place at the 2026 Destination Imagination Global Finals in Kansas City, Missouri, which took place May 21-24.

The team, Stellar Squad, consisted of Nikhita Raavi, Anshi Putcha, Anvi Putcha, Anagha Vemuru, Stuti Vittal, Bethel Binoj, and Trisha Arun. They competed in the “Win it Big” challenge where they had to create their own game show. Not only did they finish first, but they also won the Renaissance Award which goes to teams that have “outstanding skill in the areas of design, engineering, execution or performance.” The judges said they were blown away by the way the team “portrayed the inner workings of the brain as it interacted with social media” throughout their game show skit.

From left, Anwita Paleti, Gitali Yempati, Vaishnavi Anand, Srinitha Pathala and Likhitha Pothireddy, The All-Stars, pose with their second-place trophy from the “Becoming Super” challenge and their third-place trophy from the “Win it Big” challenge at the 2026 Destination Imagination Global Finals in Kansas City, Missouri. (Not pictured: Saanvi Khare)

In all, eight CFISD teams competed in nine total events at the Global Finals. Cypress Ranch High School’s team of Gitali Yempati, Saanvi Khare, Likhitha Pothireddy, Srinitha Pathala, Anwita Paleti and Vaishnavi Anand, The All-Stars, finished second in the “Becoming Super” challenge, where teams create a skit on a superhero and a villain, and third in the “Win it Big” challenge.

Sprague Middle School’s team of Manav Rajashekar, Atharv Komirelly, Priyanka Chinta, Neelesh Kolisetti and Sivaharsan Selladurai, Cypress Problem Solvers, also had a podium finish in the “Casting Shadows” challenge, finishing third.

From left, Sprague Middle School students Priyanka Chinta, Neelesh Kolisetti, Manav Rajashekar, Sivaharsan Selladurai and Atharv Komirelly, Cypress Problem Solvers, finished third in the “Casting Shadows” challenge at the 2026 Destination Imagination Global Finals in Kansas City, Missouri.

The full list of results for all the CFISD teams is below.