Our mission is to support the education, health, and welfare of each and every child at Somerset Elementary School. As part of the Washington State PTA, we are a nonprofit membership association bringing together the home, school, and community on behalf of our children.

Somerset Future Problem Solving Club

 

 

What is FPS(Future Problem Solving)

FPSPI(Future Problem Solving Program International) is a dynamic international program involving thousands of students annually from around the world. 

Criminal Justice, De-extinction, Identity theft, Cloud storage, Genetic Modification - Sound interesting? Future Problem Solving is a club and  competition where You work in a team to create unique solutions relating to these topics and so much more. Future Problem Solving will teach you the core skills necessary to be a successful leader of tomorrow: critical thinking, teamwork, research, and problem solving. 

Mission:

To develop the ability of young people globally to design and achieve positive futures through problem solving using critical and creative thinking.

Somerset FPL Club Introduction

Somerset has some exciting news to share about a new club being formed this year! It is called Future Problem Solving Program International (https://www.fpspi.org/). This is a program and club that stimulates critical and creative thinking skills, encourages students to develop a vision for the future, and prepares students for leadership roles in life. This club is open to 4th grade and 5th grade students.

  • FPSPI focuses on developing ideas to address current global challenges and helps students develop ways to create solutions to address them. Students will research a problem, develop solutions, document their ideas, and create action plans. 
  • Future scenarios are often based on practical and important topics, such as identity theft, precision medicine, cloud computing, and criminal justice systems. Additional skills students will learn are critical thinking, problem solving, creative thinking, writing, time management, organizational skills, and a deeper knowledge of STEM-related fields. 
  • There are opportunities for a variety of competitions including evaluation of student work based on research and creativity, scenario writing (a short story competition), scenario performance (emphasizes storytelling and performance), and community problem solving (aims to find solutions to unique problems in the present community).
  • TIME COMMITMENT: Formal meetings are necessary once a week, for about an hour, but independent team meetings and research is recommended. The regional competition will be held in February, the United States competition will be in May, and the International competition will be held in June. If the team doesn’t qualify for the United States competition, the commitment will end in February. If they qualify for further competition, their commitment will extend.
  • COST: An approximate ten-dollar donation is required per person to fund lunch during the qualifying competitions, which are held at the school itself. There are also registration fees required for participating in the qualifying competition, which is around fifty dollars per participant. We will be trying our best to provide financial aid as well. Should teams get to state or internationals, there will be further payments.
  • COACHES AND SUPPORT will be provided by two Interlake High School sophomore mentor students (who have both won several state and international awards over their years in this club) and one PTSA parent volunteer after school on Fridays from 3:30-4:30 PM (we are working on determining our meeting place). We will host an informational meeting this Friday, October 22nd from 3:35-4:35 PM. The location is still being determined. Our first official club meeting will be held on October 29th. Our goal is to create 8 teams of 4 Somerset students. If interest extends beyond 32 students, we will use an equitable practice to randomly select names. It is necessary to start as soon as possible in order to prepare for the 2021-2022 school year.

Interest Meeting: 

If your student feels this club is a good fit, please attend the interest meeting this Friday, October 22nd 3:35 PM at Somerset Elementary School cafeteria. Students only!

Questions: 

Email s-hemanip@bsd405.org ; s-ganesha@bsd405.org 

 

Would you like to know more? 

https://www.fpspi.org/

https://www.fpspi.org/marketing/FPS%20Overview%20and%206%20Step%20Process.pptx

https://www.fpspi.org/pdf/promo-materials/Overview%20Brochure.pdf

https://www.ncfps.org/problem-solving-process

 

Contact:

Sidhya and Prisha  Interlake High School Student Coaches

Kirsten Tonning (5th grade Somerset A.L. teacher/club coordinator)

Valeri Shah (Club Chair)