Homer Alaska - Letters

Chapman School's Future Problem Solving team has passed the qualifying competitions and has been invited to compete in the State Bowl against five other teams from all over the state of Alaska.

Our four-member team of fifth and sixth graders has been working since the beginning of the school year on the topics of sensory overload, invasive species and orphaned children with diligence, maturity and amazing intellectual vitality considering their tender ages.

In the coming weeks our team will be researching the topic of food distribution. At the State Bowl, our 10- and 11-year-olds will spend two hours closeted in a room while they develop an "action plan" to address a surprise, futuristic scenario with nothing but pencils, paper, a dictionary and each other.

I'm not sure that four young children from Anchor Point can solve the world's hunger problem, but I know that these four want to try.

The opportunity to travel and compete with teams from across the state is often the reason children participate in extra-curricular activities. Team travel, as any parent or coach knows, can be expensive. The Chapman team is going to need approximately $700 in order to register for the competition, stay at the hotel with the other traveling teams and feed themselves during the two-day event. We are asking any who can help defray these costs to contact Chapman School at 235-8671.

Billeen Carlson, coach

Future Problem Solving team