The Owensboro Middle School Academic Team recently competed in the Governor’s Cup State Finals, where the Future Problem Solving team placed fourth overall and for the first time in school history advanced to the international competition in June.
OMS coach Sarah Sullivan said Future Problem Solving is a competitive program that encourages critical thinking, problem solving skills, futurising thinking, and creativity.
“Students use a 6-step process to evaluate futuristic problems with real world impacts,” she said. “Upon reviewing a futuristic scenario, students work to identify potential challenges, identify a key underlying problem, develop potential solutions, evaluate those solutions, then create an action plan based on those solutions.”
Sullivan said the team has 2 hours to complete the process, working together to complete several tasks, and submit their booklet. Those booklets are then read and scored by trained evaluators.
“Preparation is the key,” Sullivan said. “We spend a lot of time in the fall semester learning the process. We try to perfect each step of the process, looking at examples and practicing the steps on a variety of practice materials. We also do a lot of research. Students learn about the topics at each round of the competition. They study vocabulary, read articles about those topics in today’s world, and investigate how those topics might change in the future.”
OMS Future Problem Solving team members include Alexa Salamah, Abby Ladwig, Lucy Doyal and Kinsley Hayden.
“I’m proud of my team,” Sullivan said. “They dedicate a lot of time and energy to Future Problem Solving! They are fun to work with … I love listening to them be creative, bounce ideas off one another, and support each other as they work. This particular group of young ladies put their heart and soul into the competition and always want to improve. I think that makes them extra special … they always want to do their best.”
In Kentucky, Future Problem Solving is part of a larger event called the KAAC Governor’s Cup. Students begin practicing in the early fall, learning the process, researching topics, and practicing all year.
The OMS team placed first in the District and Regional Governor’s Cup events to advance to State. The fourth-place finish at state was good enough to earn an invitation to the international competition in June.
Sullivan said they are waiting to get information from the state coordinator with details on how things will work for the international competition, which will be held at the University of Massachusetts Amherst Campus, in Massachusetts.
OMS Head Academic Team Coach Joshua Sullivan said their Future Problem Solving team has been very competitive over the past few years. They advanced to state in 2020, but finals were canceled due to the pandemic.
“This year’s team has worked incredibly hard and their work has had that ‘special’ feel to it all year,” he said. “I think the most exciting thing has been watching them become close as a team and support each other through the competition season. You can tell they’ve bonded and they push each other to be their best.”
