- December 20, 2024
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Indian Trails Middle School's Project BOSS brought home the first-place trophy in the Community Problem Solving Team Middle Division at the Future Problem Solving International Conference at Indiana University. From left, Kendall Willis, Paris Milton, Wesley Kopach, Liam O'Connor, Jorge Guerrero, Arlo Bottonelli and Dempsey Manhart. Courtesy photo
Indian Trails Middle School's Tyson Landon won first place in Community Problem Solving Individual Middle Division with his Arrive Alive project. Courtesy photo
Flagler Schools' Future Problem Solvers exchanged inflatable pink flamingoes for mementoes from other states and countries at the International Conference at Indiana University. Courtesy photo
Rymfire Elemetary School's Vocab Lab team of Kenan Davis, Evelyn Sheifer, Elissa Griffin, German Kabaloev and Elisei Volkovskiy placed fourth in Community Problem Solving Junior Division. Courtesy Photo
Flagler Schools' student contingent at the Future Problem Solving International Conference. Courtesy photo
Matanzas High School's Project WON (World Oriented News) team of Landen Cangialosi, Dmytro Sanchenko, Carter Ives and Tony Pacilli. Courtesy photo
Rymfire Elementary School's Community Problem Solving teams at the Indiana University campus. Courtesy photo
Matanzas' Lily Lisowski of Project Spill the TEA and Ava Muldoon who competed in Scenario Writing at FPS International Conference. Courtesy photo
Flagler Palm Coast's Global Issues Team Writing competitors Arianna Slaughter, Ava Mello, Liam Lafferty and Victoria DaSilva-Carvalheira at the FPS International Conference. Courtesy photo
Matanzas High's Project Spill the TEA (Teaching Entertaining and Advising) team: Brianna O'Malley, Lily Lisowski, Eva Luis, Megan Rhee and April Goebel. Courtesy photo
Rymfire Elementary School's Project WINS (Welcoming In New Students): Gia Rego, Alijah Pressley and Jaycob Griffin. Courtesy photo
Matanzas High School's contingent at the FPS International Conference at Indiana University. Courtesy photo
ITMS Project BOSS (Bring On Student Start-ups) team won first place in the Community Project Solving Team Middle Division. Clockwise from left: Dempsey Manhart, Arlo Bottinelli, Paris Milton, Liam O’Connor, Kendall Willis, Wesley Kopach and Jorge Guerrero. Courtesy photo
Two Community Problem Solving projects, each created by Indian Trails Middle School students, have been judged to be the best in the world at the Future Problem Solving Program’s International Conference.
Tyson Landon for his Arrive Alive project and the Project BOSS team of Wesley Kopach, Kendall Willis, Liam O’Connor, Arlo Bottinelli, Jorge Guerrero, Dempsey Manhart and Paris Milton took home first-place trophies in the Middle Division at the international competition on June 5-9 at Indiana University. Gavin Albertson was also on the Project BOSS team but did not make the trip to internationals.
Rymfire Elementary School’s Vocab Lab project also won an award. The team of Kenan Davis, Elissa Griffin, Evelyn Sheifer, German Kabaloev and Elisei Volkovskiy placed fourth in the Community Problem Solving Junior Team Division.
Thirty-four students and 14 chaperones and coaches from Flagler County traveled to Bloomington, Indiana, for the competition. All of the Flagler students received invitations to the International Conference based on their performances at the state competition in April. They were among 1,263 student competitors representing 243 schools from 44 states and 12 countries.
“We had an amazing trip. The campus was beautiful,” said Amy Kopach, Flagler Schools’ instructional technology specialist and an FPS board member and coach. “Other than the official competitions, the students were able to participate in a scavenger hunt around the campus, a variety show, a dance, a memento exchange and many workshops offered by the FPSPI Conference.”
The memento exchange on the first night was a highlight with students from different states and nations trading souvenirs. Florida competitors brought inflatable pink flamingos, Florida flags and other trinkets to trade for mementoes such as a Wisconsin cheese head, a Texas cowboy hat or a toy koala bear from Australia.
“It’s a really cool event,” Kopach said of the exchange. “It’s meant to get the kids engaging with each other and get everyone a little loosened up, talking to each other.”
The Community Problem Solving teams submitted a 5,000-word report, a three-minute video and a visual portfolio. They were interviewed by evaluators and presented their projects during a two-hour showcase with peers and adults walking up to their tables.
“They have people from all over the world — New Zealand, France, Alaska — visiting their tables,” Kopach said.
Project BOSS, which stands for Bring On Student Start-ups, was created by the eight ITMS students to help young students develop an entrepreneurial mindset. They hosted a youth business fair, started an entrepreneurial club for students and applied for and received a grant to buy materials for lessons. They placed first in the CmPS Team Middle Division.
Landon placed first in the Individual Middle Division. His purpose with Arrive Alive is to improve safety measures and knowledge for students walking, biking or riding a bus to school. His presentation to the Palm Coast City Council prompted the city to install new beacon lights and signs.
“I think in the middle division, there were 18 projects total. So, these two projects were the best out of 18 in the world,” Kopach said.
Vocab Lab instituted theme days with teachers’ support to improve language skills throughout the school. Rymfire has a large number of students who are English Language Learners. By the end of the year, the school improved its English Language Arts test scores significantly.
There were seven other Flagler County teams and individuals competing at internationals.
“We always try to tell the kids that they worked hard for this and their prize is this trip, and it is an amazing experience just being able to see things that they've never been able to see before,” Kopach said. “We tell them, if you win and you get something, great, but if you don't, it's also OK, because this is stiff competition when you're competing against the top 12, 16, 18 projects in the entire world.”
