Future Problem Solvers teams competed in Statewide competition last weekend

Four teams of students, two from Lynch Elementary School and two teams from the Seaton campus of Elba-Seaton Elementary School, were invited to participate in the annual Michigan Future Problem Solving State Bowl last weekend, April 25th and 26,th at Michigan State University in East Lansing.

“The State Bowl is the culmination of a yearlong program where students are taught to creatively seek, attack, and solve problems related to projections into the future,” said Coach Stephen Larzelere-Kellermann. “An estimated 1,000 Michigan students worked on three problems during the 2008-2009 school year – The Olympics, Cyber Conflict, and Space Junk, which were scored and critiqued by trained evaluators.”

Based on the third problem, 99 of the Michigan Future Problem Solving Program teams across three grade divisions (4-6, 7-9 and 10-12) were invited to participate in the competition. While teams know the general topic of this year’s bowl – The Counterfeit Economy – they will not know the specific nature of the problem they will attempt to solve until the Bowl begins.

Students from Lynch were: Samantha Goodnow, Allison Johnson, Allison Vestbjerg, Jacob Perry, Alycia Mausolf, Alicia Birkenhauer, Celeste Lareau, and Trey Lubonski. Students from Seaton were: Terra Bray, Brendan Jones, Rachel Metter, Katie Sinka, Alexa Hill, Taylor White, Joseph Dennis, and Nicole Tomczyk.

The following eight students went as alternates: Lynch students: Jacob Dam, Dylan Neebes, Alexis Mosher, and Sydney Maggs; Seaton’s alternates: Sarah Brownrigg, Billy Irvine, Amy Lindblom, and Samantha Boddy.

The Seaton team of Joseph Dennis, Alexa Hill, Taylor White and Nicole Tomczyk reached the semifinal round and a team from Lynch consisting of Alicia Birkenhauer, Alycia Mausolf, Trey Lubonski and Celeste Lareau also reached the semifinal round. The Lynch team also took third place in their group of teams in the presentation of their best solution.

“I am quite proud of them all and I believe they all had a terrific weekend,” said Mr. Stephen Larzelere-Kellermann.

For more information, contact Stephen Larzelere-Kellermann at (810) 667-2448 or a Michigan Future Problem Solving Program director at (810) 923-2484. More information about the program is also available at www. MichiganFPS.com or at