Why FPS?

Entrepeneur.com printed an article describing the top 11 reasons Millenials get fired (1).  Blogger Trevor Muir (www.TrevorMuir.com) summarized the top five from the article as: 

  • The need for independence
  • Lack of confidence
  • Anxiety 
  • Miscommunication 
  • Lack of vision. 

Essentially, he said, the main reason Millennials get fired is that they can't collaborate, they lack confidence in themselves and their decisions, which can lead to anxiety, they struggle to present and communicate and are not critically thinking to see overall goals and vision (2).


How does the Flagler County School District combat these deficiencies in our students? How do we better prepare students to excel in the workforce?  


One solution is teaching students problem-solving skills at an early age and reinforcing them through high school graduation. Recent research (cps.adobeeducate.com) shows that educators and policymakers agree that tomorrow's jobs will demand creative problem-solving skills. This research identified the following skills as critical to successful creative problem solving:

  • Learning through success & failure 
  • Working within diverse teams 
  • Independent learning 
  • Accepting challenges & taking risks 
  • Innovative thinking 
  • Process & investigation 
  • Persistence, grit & entrepreneurial spirit 

In Flagler County schools, we teach creative problem-solving and decision-making skills like the ones listed above (and more) through the Future Problem Solving Program (FPS). FPS is an academic program that prepares students for competitive problem-solving. Students apply critical thinking and problem-solving processes to address hypothetical future situations. In Community Problem Solving (CmPS), students take local community issues and apply the same critical thinking and problem-solving methods to develop solutions that benefit the community. 


Every March, the Florida Future Problem Solving Program (FLFPSP.org) brings together the affiliate programs from all over the state for two days of competition. Flagler Schools has a strong history of excellence at the state competition, thanks to former Flagler Palm Coast High School (FPCHS) educator and FPS coach Diane Tomko. Ms. Tomko introduced FPS to the Flagler School District 26 years ago, as a middle school teacher under the tutelage of Belle Terre Middle School Principal Buddy Taylor. She later brought the program with her to FPCHS, and it has flourished ever since. The program spread throughout the District and now includes five elementary schools and both middle schools. Ms. Tomko recently retired from the Flagler School district, and we want to thank her for her vision and commitment to excellence that established and maintained the FPS program for so many years!


The pandemic has been rough on the FPS program. Our students thrive on collaboration and team-building, and the pandemic placed limitations on the program. As we emerge from the pandemic, 2022 has been great year for FPS and CmPS students in Flagler County schools! Flagler FPS students once again excelled at the Florida FPS Affiliate Competition after a two year absence from face to face competition due to the pandemic. 


Many students received invitations to compete at the 2022 FPSPI International Competition in June at the University of Massachusetts – Amherst.

 

In Flagler Schools, Future Problem Solving isn't just a club. It is not just a tool used by come teachers. In Flagler Schools, FPS is ingrained into the culture of schools. It is part of who we are and how we prepare students to excel in life after high school.

 

The article above was contributed by Andy Dance, a former Flagler County School Board member and parent of three students that participated in FPS. All three of his children have since graduated high school, but the lessons they learned through FPS helped them navigate college and their currents jobs successfully. 

 

(1) Entreprenuer.com - https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/305852
(2) TrevorMuir.com - http://www.trevormuir.com/new-blog-avenue/soft-skills

2019 FPS State Affiliate Competition Results!

2019 has been another great year for FPS and CmPS students in Flagler County schools! 

  • A total of 332 students attended the Florida FPS Affiliate competition from six different schools (Flagler Palm Coast High School, Indian Trails Middle School, Buddy Taylor Middle School, Rymfire Elementary School, Bunnell Elementary School & Old Kings Elementary School)
  • These Flagler Schools students brought home a total of 236 awards, including one “Best Writer” and four CmPS “Grand Champion” projects.
  • A total of 72 students from three schools received invitations to compete at the FPSPI International Competition in June at the University of Massachusetts – Amherst.

 

2019 FPS States Summary-Press Release.ed[...]
Adobe Acrobat document [71.5 KB]

2019 FPS State Affiliate Competition - March 17-20, 2019

Flagler schools has 332 students attending the 2019 Florida FPS Affiliate Competition in Orlando. Click below for a summary of attendees from each of the six Flagler schools.

Summary of Flagler Schools attendees to the 2019 Florida FPS Affiliate Competition
A breakdown of the six schools and 332 students attending the 2019 Florida FPS Affiliate Competition from the Flagler County School District
Flagler Schools FPS students invited to [...]
Adobe Acrobat document [282.7 KB]

future problem solving teaches these important, real-life skills!

2018 international competition summary

Flagler Schools FPS students win big at 2018 State Competition

April 4, 2018

After months of preparation, over 300 Flagler Schools students traveled to Orlando on March 25-28 to compete at the Future Problem Solvers state competition. The following groups walked away with ribbons, medals and trophies to show their success.

Some of FPS/Community Problem Solvers teams and participants have also been invited to the FPS International Conference on June 6-10, 2018 at the University of Wisconsin–La Crosse. Those invited are noted below.

Flagler School Board member Andy Dance attended the state competition with students to support and help them. “I’ve been going for a few years, but each year is different,” Dance said. “It’s new teams and new projects. It’s really just very heartwarming to see the students working to improve their community in the CmPS projects and then on the writing skills, just to progress in their skills in FPS.”

Read more from the Palm Coast Observer by clicking the link.

FINAL 2017 FL fps State Competition results now posted!

April 4, 2017

The following is a summary of Flagler County School District students (categorized by school) that excelled at the recent Future Problem Solving (FPS) State competition, March 26-29 at the Double Tree Resort in Orlando, Florida. The students highlighted in yellow have been invited to attend the prestigious Future Problem Solving Program International competition in June at the campus of the University of Wisconsin/Lacrosse.

Flagler Schools State FPS Competition Results
2017 FL State Competition winners by sch[...]
Adobe Acrobat document [215.1 KB]

2017 Flagler FPS District winners heading to state competition!

Flagler Schools FPS Students Invited to 2017 State Competition
The following is a summary of Flagler County School District students (categorized by school) that excelled at the recent Future Problem Solving (FPS) District competition and have been invited to participate in the Florida FPS Program State Competition to be held March 26-29th at the DoubleTree Resort in Orlando.
Flagler Schools FPS students invited to [...]
Adobe Acrobat document [422.9 KB]

Competition archives:

Flagler FPS and CmPS Students Win Big at the 2016 Florida FPS State Competition!

April 4, 2016

 

Flagler Schools students were in Orlando, Florida this past week for the 2016 FLFPS State Competition. Over 200 Flagler Schools students from five different schools attended the four day event to compete in a variety of academic competitions, including global issues writing as teams as as individuals. The community problem solving teams also competed individually and in teams. Overall, there were 24 winning teams (consisting of 120 students) and 41 individual competition winners for a total of 65 awards handed out to Flagler Schools students. Additionally, there were two Grand Champion CmPS projects (the highest honor available) for Project LINK (FPC) and Project G.R.E.E.N. (BES) and Savannah Umpenhour reveived the FLFPS State Scholarship! 

 

The next level of FPS and CmPS compeitition for some of our students is the FPSPI International Competition at Michigan State University during the first week of June. Flagler Schools had 10 teams and 7 individuals that were honored with an invitation to compete against the best and brightest students from all over the world! 

 

Let’s thank all our students for their amazing achievements and for representing Flagler Schools so prefessionally at the state conference. We are so proud of all our students that competed this year!  Let’s also give our FPS coaches and chaperones a big round of applause and thanks for volunteering their time and allowing our students this opportunity to grow as scholars and compete against the brightest students in the state. 

 
Click HERE to read more about the state competition!

Welcome to our website.

Thank you for visiting FlaglerFPS.com. Future Problem Solving of Flagler County is the central communication portal for our FPS students, parents and coaches throughout the Flagler School District.

 

The goal for Flagler FPS is to spread awareness of the Future Problem Solving Program in Flagler Schools.

 

Thank you again for visiting, and please take a look around our site. Our school district leaders and the Flagler community are very proud of our students and coaches and their accomplishments. We want to give them an opportunity to compete against the very best competition from Florida and around the world!

Thank you for your support:

State FPS Organization:

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The significant problems of our time cannot be solved by the same level of thinking that created them.