Future Problem Solving

Future Problem Solving Students Bring Home Several Awards from State Bowl!

Last weekend, 10 St. Anne School Future Problem Solving teams traveled to San Jose to represent the School at the California State Bowl. These students have been working hard over the last few weeks preparing for State Bowl and came home with some serious hardware, including one team that qualified to compete at the FPS International Conference in June!

Mrs. Abbey Hilliard, Director of Future Problem Solving, could not be prouder: “All of the students showed teamwork, creativity, and an exceptional level of problem-solving. The FPS coaches are so proud of these Knights for being such great representatives of St. Anne School.”

Global Issues Problem Solving - Team Booklet: Junior Division

1st Place (going to Internationals!) - Leo E., Darius J., Andres J., Evan W.
3rd Place - Brody P., Levi W., Zoe C., Jude I.
6th Place - Mackenzie C., Sammie T., Ava M., Lauren B.

Presentation of Action Plan: Junior Division

3rd Place - Brody P., Levi W., Zoe C., Jude I.
4th Place - Leo E., Darius J., Andres J., Evan W.
5th Place - Fernando V., Lucas P., Austin W., Max L.
6th Place - Valentino R., Annalise R., Mia S., Vihaan A.

Presentation of Action Plan: Middle Division

1st Place - Peyton G., Ava W., Reef S., Evan B.
4th Place - Kaitlin G., Sofie P., Grace K., Landry B.

St. Anne School’s Future Problem Solving (FPS) program is designed to develop research, critical thinking, creativity, and teamwork abilities in students grades 3 through 8. The program melds the demanding intellectual challenge of creative problem solving with an interdisciplinary study of the future and promotes interpersonal communication, ethical leadership, and responsible group membership through its various components.

Students learn how to:

Research topics broadly and discerningly
Dissect and structure complex problems
Brainstorm creatively
Collaborate through teamwork under time pressure
Develop informed, transparent decision-making

Through participation in the program, students research three to four topics a year in depth and explore social, political, economic, and technological implications. Students meet weekly and participate in two practice rounds to prepare for competitive events that can advance them to the annual state bowl and annual international competitions.

Multiple measures are used to identify candidates for the Future Problem Solving Program at St. Anne School. Students chosen for this program are invited based on a combination of MAP test scores, OLSAT scores, current standing in the program, and criteria-based teacher recommendation. Based on these criteria, invitations for the following year are sent out to students in the spring.

FPS students compete in the Global Issues Problem Solving (GIPS). GIPS is a competitive component of FPSPI which can be accomplished as a team of four or as an individual activity in which participants research a series of global topics and learn a six-step creative problem solving process. Problem solvers apply their topic and creative problem solving knowledge to address a charge presented in an imagined situation, termed Future Scene.

FPS Grade 3

This year-long, after school non-competitive component introduces students to the skills of creative problem-solving in a hands-on, non-threatening manner. Teams consisting of three to four students are encouraged to work on two topics, one per semester.

Through Action-based Problem Solving (AbPs), primary learners are introduced to the problem solving process by thinking about challenges and issues facing familiar fairy tale characters. By using well-known fairy tales written with a new twist, younger students are introduced to generating ideas, decision-making, and communication strategies in a fun way.

FPS Grades 4 and 5

In grades 4 and 5, students meet after school and can participate in the team competition. Competitors are given a description of a scene set in the future that contains highly-relevant potential issues, such as energy of the future. Under the guidance of a coach, competitors use the FPS six-step model to explore challenges and propose action plans to complex societal problems.

Teams complete two practice problems and one qualifying problem throughout the school year. Trained evaluators score student work and return it with feedback, including suggestions for improvement. The top scoring teams on the qualifying problem are invited to affiliate FPS bowls held each spring. The winners of each respective affiliate FPS bowl advance to the FPSP International Conference in June.

FPS Middle School

In Middle School, FPS is during the school day within the advisory class. Competitors can participate in the global issues problem-solving team and individual divisions. Competitors are given a description of a scene set in the future that contains highly-relevant potential issues, such as energy of the future. Under the guidance of a coach, competitors use the FPS six-step model to explore challenges and propose action plans to complex societal problems.

Teams complete two practice problems and one qualifying problem throughout the school year. Trained evaluators score student work and return it with feedback, including suggestions for improvement. The top scoring teams on the qualifying problem are invited to affiliate FPS bowls held each spring. The winners of each respective affiliate FPS bowl advance to the FPSP International Conference in June.

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Future Problem Solving