Wa-Hi Future Problem Solving team competes in International competition

Recently Walla Walla High School students placed 23rd in the world at the International Future Problem Solving competition in Fort Collins, Colorado.

Graduating seniors Emily Pinney, Josh Ness and Katie OBrien competed in the senior division of the International competition against the one or two winning teams from 40 states plus teams from Japan, Australia, Singapore, Korea, New Zealand, and China.

As an extra-curricular activity, Future Problem Solving teaches students critical and creative thinking skills, problem solving, and communication skills, both oral and written. Students research topics throughout the year and use the knowledge gained from the research while applying the six-step model during an intense two-hour competition where only pencils, pens, paper, and calculators are utilized to write an 11-page paper. The topic for the International Conference was privacy.

This is the seventh time that a team from Walla Walla has represented Washington State at the international level. The team was coached by John and Gay Buissink.