Future Problem Solvers bring back trophies

Students from 14 teams from Lapeer Community Schools qualified 53 students for the Michigan Future Problem Solving State Bowl, March 26 and 27 at Clarkston Junior High School.

The teams represented Lapeer East High School, Zemmer and Rolland-Warner middle schools and Seaton, Lynch and Turrill elementary schools.

Five of those teams took home trophies for their presentations at the State Bowl, which is the culmination of a year-long program where students are taught to creatively seek, attack, and solve problems related to projections into the future.

These students had been hard at work on their problem-solving skills since the beginning of October, meeting after school once a week. An estimated 1,000 Michigan students worked on three problems during the 2010 - 2011 school year – Healthy Living, Air Transportation, and Genetic Testing – which were scored and critiqued by trained evaluators.

A total of 93 of Michigan FPS teams across three grade divisions (4-6, 7-9, and 10-12) were invited to participate in the State Bowl. While teams knew the general topic of this year’s Bowl – Water Quality – they did not know the specific nature of the problem they attempted to solve until the Bowl began.

One junior team which included Sarah Ridenour (Rolland-Warner MS 6th grade), Jacob Schlaud (Zemmer MS 6th grade), Ben Mitchell and Nathan Carr (Seaton ES 5th grade) took 4th place in the state in writing their 11-page booklet. That was just two places away from qualifying for the International Bowl in the junior division.

Two teams made it to the semi-final round, a junior team of 5th graders from Turrill, including Jullian Felton, Nathan Jasper, Kane Sweet, and Zach Bergstrom, and a middle team that included East 9th grader Nicole Romolino, Rolland-Warner 7th grader Zach Fritz, Zemmer 8th grader Alycia Mausolf and Zemmer 7th grader Alexis Mosher.

Two junior teams also had success in the presentation of their action plan. Taking a second in their presentation were Zemmer 6th graders Greg Schabel, James Felton and Steven Romolino and Seaton 5th grader Leah Bentley. Taking a third place were Zemmer 6th graders Olivia Card and Brooklyn Withey and Seaton 5th graders Pierce Logan and Chad Buike.

The Lapeer teams’ coach, Steve Larzelere-Kellermann, was named state FPS coach of the year.

Lapeer Community Schools can be proud of the showing our students had at the event.

Lynch, Seaton Elementary Problem Solving competitors head for MSU event April 17

Two teams of students from Lynch Elementary and four teams from Seaton Elementary School and several alternates have been invited to participate in the annual Michigan Future Problem Solving Program State Bowl at Michigan State University in East Lansing on Saturday, April 17 and Sunday, April 18.

The Lapeer elementary school team will compete with members of 92 of the top teams Michigan.

Lynch team members, Alicia Birkenhauer, Alexis Mosher, Trey Lubonski, Jacob Schlaud, Allison Johnson, Anastasia Mausolf, Rachel Compton Megan Bopra, with alternates, Abby Horning, Steven Romolino, Paul Ankley, and Shelby Metzger, and Seaton team members, Sam Boddy, James Felton, Sierra Wineman, Brittney Potter, Nicole Tomczyk, Carley Heathcock, Sarah Ridenour, Kara Daniels, Hannah Somerville, Jocelyn Jones, Matthew Brey, Zachary Fritz, Brooklyn Withey, Olivia Card, Greg Schabel, and Katie Sinka, with alternate, Lauren Barber, and their coach, Stephen Larzelere-Kellermann travel to MSU.

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. An estimated 1,000 Michigan students worked on three problems during the 2009-2010 school year – Invasive Species, Sensory Overload, and Orphaned Children, which were scored and critiqued by trained evaluators.

Based on the third problem, 92 of Michigan FPSP’s teams across three grade divisions (4-6, 7-9, and 10-12) have been invited to participate in the State Bowl. While teams know the general topic of this year’s Bowl – Food Distribution – they will not know the specific nature of the problem they will attempt to solve until the Bowl begins.

Solutions will be evaluated on clearly established criteria, and the top five teams from each division will receive trophies. State Champions will also be invited to represent Michigan at the 2010 International FPS Conference at the University of Wisconsin in LaCross in May. In the past years, Michigan participants have won 25 championships at the International Conference.

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