About Us
We are a group of four Year 8 students from Mangawhai Beach School who came first in our division in the Future Problem Solving National Finals for our Community Problem Solving project based on Diversity. Our names are (from left to right in the photo below) Ruby Judson, Tatiana Chan-Chui, Sophie Lambert, Michael Lynch and Jack Brooks.
We have recently competed in the international competition, however this was all done on an online platform because of Covid-19. We came third in our Community problem solving division which is a huge accomplishment.
What problem are we trying to solve?
Our research has shown that there are divisions and prejudices that lurk below the surface in our community and that mental health, especially for young people, is a serious issue across Northland, where we live, and New Zealand. Our goal is to unite the young people of New Zealand by inspiring conversations about the strengths that connect us.
What is Future Problem Solving?
Future Problem Solving is a highly regarded international problem solving competition that develops creative, critical and caring thinking skills in students from Year 1 – Year 13. https://www.fpsnz.co.nz/
Students grapple with global and community issues, identify underlying problems and create positive solutions to those issues. Above all, it
aims to give young people the skills to design and promote positive futures as citizens of the 21st Century.
What Have we Done so Far?
We have conducted surveys within our school and the community, and we have looked at local and national data on student wellbeing. We have also explored research by the NZ Institute of Wellbeing and Resilience. We have interviewed many experts, including Aaron Kemp the principal of our school, Kate Matheson who is the Community Wellbeing advisor of Manu Hapori Hauora (Northland District Health Board), and many more. We have held two community meetings in Mangawhai sharing our research, solutions, and gathering feedback and help from the community. We also recently competed in the National Finals, where we were interviewed by judges and presented to more than 300 people.
We have developed a pack of Strength cards based on the key characters strengths. We have included a kid-friendly te reo Maori translation of each strength on the cards - we consulted with local experts to ensure our translations were correct. Ruby created the art work on each card by herself. We chose a native plant or animal to represent each Strength - as nature is diverse and beautiful, and we didn't want to tell people what the strength looked like as they can be different for different people.
Our goal is that these cards will be used to create empathic, curious conversations in real life and that when we finish creatibng this website and promote of instagram feed, these online resources will help us to see, hear and listen to each other deeply.
And this will destroy prejudice in Aotearoa, make us kinder, more connected and more resilient.
