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Home  About Press Releases Students Practice Solving Pandemics
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Students Practice Solving Pandemics |
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Students Practice Solving Pandemics
 On Wednesday 4 March, five Kristin students travelled to the Grocery Industry Council Workshop in the city, to speak on the chosen topic for the conference - ‘Pandemics’.
Incidentally, this is the topic of the International Future Problem Solving Conference for 2009, which this team of students will be travelling to and competing in at Michigan State University in the last week of May and first week of June.
Hamish Mouat, Amy Martin, Verity Johnson, Patrick Oxnam and Andrew Chen make up the Kristin Future Problem Solving Team. Future Problem Solving (FPS) is a challenging programme where students discover rich and varied ways of thinking and are taught how to think, not just what to think. It is based on a future scenario - an imagined scene of the future. Students work in teams of four with a coach who facilitates their research into the topic and learning the skills required. Students analyse potential problems set in the future scene and then find ways to solve those problems.
The students were invited to speak as the opening presentation for the Grocery Industry Council Workshop, to give a futuristic look on what a pandemic could do to New Zealand as a nation, and how we might futuristically stop it. The team worked hard researching the potential threats a pandemic could bring to a nation. They then applied the same Future Problem Solving template that they apply to competition problems, to see what sort of solutions they could produce, and how these would be of use. Putting all these ideas together, the team made a verbal presentation to the council guests.
“After a few hours of rehearsals, the team spoke confidently and clearly and really stressed to the audience the importance of this logical thinking,” said their Teacher-In-Charge, Mrs Christine Mackway-Jones. At the end of the presentation they offered their support to external businesses involved with the conference, to help find the solutions for the problems they as companies face – for a fee of course! The team need to raise money to cover the cost of getting to the United States for the international competition in May. Applauded for their efforts; their presentation was received very well by the audience.
While they wait for any companies who would like to accept their unique offer, they are extremely busy organising many sausage sizzles, and various other fundraising activities, as well as intense study sessions for the impending conference.
If you would like to help this aspirational FPS team get to the United States please contact Christine Mackway-Jones or 09 415 9566 ext 2418.
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A beautiful Tui seen on a recent Middle School trip to Tiritiri Matangi
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