- November 27, 2024
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At the beginning of the school year, Community Problem Solvers at Wadsworth Elementary School brainstormed problems in the community. With Project Pet Pals, they brought home a third-place trophy in the human services category of the Junior Level Community Problem Solving International Competition.
The team is the first elementary Community Problem Solvers team in Flagler County history to place first in the state competition and third internationally.
“At every step of the project, the team was supported by a Flagler Palm Coast High School CmPS team, Project Solve,” said Marilee Palot, Wadsworth’s library information specialist and Problem Solvers coach.
“Their project was to encourage and assist existing school teams, and try to establish teams at the schools that didn’t have CmPS teams,” she said. “Their help was invaluable and a key reason the students were so prepared to face the challenges of competition.”
Five of the 10 members attended the Future Problem Solvers International Conference in La Crosse, Wis., where the team competed against projects from students from Australia, Singapore, New Zealand and across the United States.
Team members learned from Yvonne Presley, of the Flagler Humane Society, that overpopulation is the major precursor to abuse. The best way to combat overpopulation, she told them, was for owners to spay and neuter their pets.
One way the team got their message out was by writing a children’s picture book about animal abuse, “Bucket’s Angels.”
The book was hardbound and sent out to all the elementary school libraries.
“It was a great learning experience for all, including the adults. It is amazing what students can do if we empower them to make a difference, even at the elementary school level,” Palot said. “That is what education is all about.”
