Fall 2020

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FALL 2020 HOMESCHOOL IOWA 25
Homeschoolers Succeed
in International Competition
BY PAULA LAWSON-MOORE, FUTURE PROBLEM SOLVING COACH
The 2020 Future Problem Solving In-
ternational Competition was sched-
uled to take place in early June on
the campus of the University of Massachu-
setts, but the global pandemic prevented the
annual gathering. Instead, the competition
had to take place from Iowa via electronic
submissions. This change of venue, however,
did not stop homeschooled students from
working hard and earning some top awards.
Future Problem Solving (FPS) is an aca-
demically challenging program where
student in Grades 4-12 learn a practical
problem-solving process that they apply to
different topics throughout the school year.
The skills learned in Future Problem Solving
align with those most desired by employers:
critical thinking and problem solving; team-
work and collaboration; oral and written
communication skills. The FPS topics for the
past school year were International Travel,
Sleep Patterns, Gamification, and Living in
Poverty. The topic of the FPS International
Competition was Terraforming.
Instead of meeting in person weekly to pre-
pare for international competition, students
completed eight weeks of online assignments
from their coach, including writing their own
futuristic stories about terraforming a planet
or moon. Since coronavirus restrictions less-
ened after the first of June, the students were
able to meet in person to complete the two-
hour written competition and participate in
the oral presentations on June 5.
Several Iowa homeschooled students
placed among the best in the world. The
junior division (Grades 4-6) team of Ciaran
Bentler, Moriah Haveman, Noelle Schnoebel-
en, andWill Seele placed 10th out of the best
59 junior teams.
In themiddle division (Grades 7-9), the team
of Maggie Greer, Matt Schaeckenbach, Lewis
Sutton, and Brady Diercks earned the honor
of placing 3rd internationally, outperforming
s66 teams from 25 states plus teams from the
countries of New Zealand, Singapore, China,
Thailand, Australia, and Turkey.
Anna Ramsey, participating in the senior
division (Grades 10-12) problem-solving
competition for individuals, also placed 3rd
internationally.
Former teacher
and homeschool
mom, Paula Law-
son-Moore, has
coached FPS teams
in eastern Iowa
for over 30 years.
For the 2019-2020
FPS season, Paula
coached 52 home-
schooled students
from Iowa City,
Kalona, Riverside,
Coralville, Marion,
Brighton, Washington, Wayland, Cedar Rap-
ids, West Liberty, and Tiffin.
A former Future Problem Solving par-
ticipant, Ben Berhow, now an engineering
student at the University of Iowa, wrote this
about FPS: “Future Problem Solving has mold-
edmany aspects of who I am. And if I could only
repeat one activity from high school, I would
unquestionably choose FPS. The skill of prob-
lem solving is useful in many different aspects
of life, and it is crucial in engineering. Through
Future Problem Solving, I have brainstormed
solutions to the problems of space junk, ocean
pollution, invasive species, and many other
pressing issues our planet will face in the near
future. Researching each topic, I have amassed
insight into diverse topics, such as 3D printing,
genetics, and outer space. Teamwork is critical
to success in FPS. Working with other Problem
Solvers has taught me leadership, patience,
and how to collaborate with different kinds
of people. These, and many more invaluable
traits, are why I am grateful to Future Problem
Solving for shaping me into the thinker I am
today.”
If parents are interested in learning more
about Future Problem Solving either with
Paula or as a new coach, contact Paula at
The FPS Program
also includes a ScenarioWriting competition
where students write futuristic short stories,
and Scenario Performance, a storytelling
competition. The international website is
.
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Eastern Iowa home schooled students and their coach (in orange, second
row from the top, in the middle) who participated in the 2020 virtual FPS
International Competition
Junior division 10th place team (from left): Will Seele, Ciaran Bentler,
Moriah Haveman, Noelle Schnoebelen
Third place international middle division team (from left): Matt
Schaeckenbach, Lewis Sutton, Maggie Greer, Brady Diercks
Senior division individual FPS
Competition 3rd place: Anna Ramsey