- November 14, 2024
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Kokomo’s Café in Flagler Beach was overflowing with flamingos and Future Problem Solving students from several Flagler County Schools April 29.The students were there to help raise funds for their upcoming trip in June to Michigan for Future Problem Solving International competition.
The funds they raise will pay for their flights, competition registration and lodging in Michigan. Each group or individual will be representing the state of Florida as winners from each of their categories. Internationals give the students the chance to meet and compete with other students from all over the world. Our local students will present their projects to a panel of judges, andon the final day of their trip, winners will be announced.
Students from Flagler Palm Coast High School have brought home at least one trophy in each of the last 20 years, so expectations are high. Here is an overview of each of the teams headed north this summer.
H.O.P.E
The goal of Project H.O.P.E (Helping Our Pediatric Experience), run by sixth-graders at Bunnell Elementary, is to make pediatrics patients’ experience in the emergency room more comfortable. The students were able to participate in a mock visit to the hospital to get a better understanding of what a pediatric patient encounters. The Florida Hospital Flagler Foundation has given the group funds to decorate two of the 32 rooms in the new addition of the hospital. Until those rooms are ready next year, the group will provide tote bags with teddy bears, coloring books and crayons that nurses will hand out to pediatric patients.
Good ‘ol Days
Good ‘ol Days is an FPC student-led initiative that aims to increase social interaction between the elderly and youth within nursing homes. The students currently visit three nursing homes and soon will be adding a fourth to their schedule. In once instance, a student helped a gentleman e-mail his daughter, who lives out of state, for a specific slipper he wanted. On their next visit back to the nursing home they were happy to see he had received his slippers.
Animal Assisters
Indian Trails Middle School students have spent the school year researching ways to inform the community regarding information and facilities to benefit their pets. Their goal is to increase resources to Flagler County pet owners. One project aimed to improve the dog park at Wadsworth Park in Flagler Beach. They came up with a rendering for the park,which was presented to and approved by the city. Their plan made the park more welcoming for pets and their owners earlier this year.
H.E.A.L.T.H
Isabella Colindres is the individual behind H.E.A.L.T.H. (Helping Every Amazing Learner Towards Health). She has done presentations for first and second graders, showing them how to read nutrition labels and demonstrating different exercises. A health club was also created for the third and fourth graders. They learned about healthy snacks and fun exercise.
Street Talk
After multiple accidents involving students while either bicycling or walking, the project Street Talk was created by FPC students to educate the community and students on how to be safe on the road. They have done presentations on pedestrian and cyclist safety to elementary schools, and over 200 signatures have been signed to their pledge to be safe on the streets while walking or riding bikes.The students successfully asked the school board to proclaim Aug. 15-19 as Pedestrian Cyclist Safety Week, and the county commission has subsequently followed suit, too.
G.R.E.E.N.
Garden Raising Environmental Efficiency Network is all about educating students and families of Flagler County on how to sustain their own gardens. Their goal is to help with hunger issues by demonstrating how to grow fruits and vegetables at home. They also hope to impact people by encouraging them to live a healthier lifestyle. To help the community, they started within Bunnell Elementary by providing gardens to fellow students and their families.
LINK
Flagler Palm Coast High School’s media center received a makeover from the “Learning and Incorporating New Knowledge” project group. After noticing the media center not being used as a result of laptops being provided to students, members of LINK wanted to change that. They were able to renovate the dated media center by adding more furniture, creating spaces for students to work collaboratively and adding new technology. Although the project started in January 2015 and has been open for use, they continue to promote the media center for study halls or study groups with friends. They also receive support from teachers who now bring their classes there. Through all of this, they have restored life to the media center, as it is again being utilized.