A team of Year 7 students from Kerikeri High School has won the right to represent New Zealand at the Future Problem Solving International Finals at the University of Wisconsin, USA, next year.
Ella Howells, Emma Thomson, Ella Parker and Zoe Ackers placed second in the National Future Problem Solving Finals in Auckland earlier this month after competing against more than 30 teams from around the country.
While year 10 students from Kerikeri High have previously travelled to the US to compete in the international future problem solving finals, the two Ellas, Emma and Zoe are the first Year 7s to do so.
Future problem solving aims to develop students' creative, critical and ethical problem-solving skills by teaching a six-step process for thinking critically and analytically about significant issues. Students work in teams of four to come up with action plans for innovative, futuristic yet workable solutions.
During the year the girls wrestled with the problems posed by genetics and 3D printing. In the national finals they grappled with identity theft.
