By LACHLAN MOORHEAD
A SECOND team from Fountain Gate Secondary College is set to compete in the future problem solving World Championships next year.
The school’s new problem solving team, named ENGAGE, won the National Championships earlier this month and has now booked a place at the World Championships in Iowa in 2015.
It comes just months since the school’s previous problem solving team, EPIC, placed second in this year’s World Championships, also held in Iowa.
Teacher and coach of the team Stephen Hughes said a huge cheer erupted at St Leonard’s College in Brighton, where the national competition was held, when ENGAGE was announced as the winner in the middle school division.
“When they announced us, the students all screamed,” he said.
“There were about 1000 students there in total.
“There’s a whole range of different competitions in the program, one is creative writing, there’s also performance and hypothetical situations, as well as community problem solving.
“We’re all really excited and very proud.
“A lot of hard work was put into the project. It’s gratifying considering all the work the students put in.
“They weren’t expecting to win because we didn’t know what the other people had submitted.”
ENGAGE, which is focused on community problem solving, consists of seven Year 8 students whose project revolves around giving their peers access to careers information at a much earlier age.
This includes an idea to move the office of the school’s career advisor out of the VCE centre and into a more accessible location for younger students.
During the National Championships weekend of 17 to 19 October, the students were required to participate in a range of activities including a special opening ceremony, a group presentation and organise their own booth at the competition fair.
“It’s very exciting from the school’s point of view,” Mr Hughes said.
“We certainly announced that we had won at our staff briefing. The staff were genuinely very excited.
“There’s a certain pride that comes with this. It’s something people are proud of and we talk about it quite a lot.”
ENGAGE – Everyone Needs Goals And Great Education – will now focus on raising funds for its tilt at the international trophy next year.
“We’re focused on Iowa now and the challenge is to raise the project to an international standard,” Mr Hughes said.
“The students are looking to reach out further into the community and share their insights and findings with other schools, and local government and state government.
“The project is all about getting career programs to kids at a younger year level because the students feel that at Years 7, 8 and 9 they want to know about careers but it’s something that doesn’t seem to be infused in kids until Year 10.”
