40 Flagler Schools Students Advance to International Problem Solvers Competition After Wins in Orlando

Flagler Schools recognized its Future Problem Solvers who participated at the 2024 Future Problem Solver State Competition March 10-13 in Orlando.

A total of 178 students from five schools (Flagler Palm Coast High School, Matanzas High School, Buddy Taylor Middle School, Indian Trails Middle School, and Rymfire Elementary School) took part in the competition, which drew 511 students from across the state. Of the Flagler Schools contingent, 40 have been invited to vie at the international competition, which will take place June 5-9 at Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana.




Flagler Palm Coast High School coaches Melissa Castaneda, Danielle Moss, Anabella Giuliano, and Zach Lavigne took 52 students to the competition and scored several wins. Four of these students will advance to the international competition.

On Global Issues Team Writing, Senior Division Individual, first place went to Ava Mello, Arianna Slaughter, Victoria DaSilva-Carvalheira, and Liam Lafferty, with the team invited to the International Competition. Third place was awarded to Samantha Newell and fifth place went to Desmond Akmentins.

In the Presentation of Action Plan Senior Division, first place was awarded to the team of Annabelle Machado, Abigail Blumengarten, Lily Ames, and Jack Mikutel; third place went to Kyra Baldwin, Ella Oshri, and Jack Gilvary; fourth place went to Eva Sites, Hannah Zublionis, Laura Herrera, and Grace Brocksmith; and fifth place went to Summer Barnes, Veronica Matsikh, Emma Coates, and Nigel-Ginola Njok.

In the MAGIC (Multi-Affiliate Global Issues Problem Solving Competition) Team Writing, Middle Division, second place went to Aria King and Skylar Carroll while Kashvi Sagar scored a second-place finish in the Senior Division.




In Scenario Writing, third place went to Liam Lafferty.

Flagler Schools Instructional Technology Specialist Amy Kopach coached the 15-member Matanzas High School team.

In Community Problem Solving, MHS students took first and second place. The Spill the TEA project won first place with members Lily Lisowski, Olivia Chochev, Eva Luis, Megan Rhee, Brianna O’Malley, and April Goebel. Project WON came in second with team members Tony Pacilli, Carter Ives, Landen Cangialosi, Dmytro Sanchenko, Cline Hansen, and Will Wells. Both teams have been invited to compete in the International Competition.

In the Individual Project category, Ava Anderson took second place with her The Real Superheroes project. Ava Muldoon took first place in the Scenario Writing, Senior Division for her The Edge of It All project. She was invited to compete at the International Competition.
In the MAGIC (Multi-Affiliate Global Issues Problem Solving Competition) category, Team Writing, Senior Division, Olivia Chochev won first place.

Buddy Taylor Middle School coaches Erica Scudder and Brandy Tew-Womack took 16 students to the state competition.

At Indian Trails Middle School, 77 students participated in the event, under the tutelage of coaches Beth Blumengarten, Neil Kopach and Hannah Anderson.




Under CmPS (Community Problem Solvers), Education, FPS², the team Alena Karanas, Americo Amaral, Cedrick Barrameda, Holden Carleton, Giles Platt, Jacob Gibson, Oliver Esquivel Novek, Ryan Jaeger, Sydney Mahon, Xavier Cejudo, and Adriana Berti took second place.

Additionally, ITMS took home a first-place award in the Education category, with an invitation to the International Competition for its Project BOSS (Bring On Student Start Ups). Wesley Kopach, Kendall Willis, Paris Milton, Dempsey Manhart, Liam O’Connor, Jorge Guerrero, Gavin Albertson, and Arlo Bottinelli were on that team.

ITMS student Tyson Landon scored a first place in the Middle Division Individual category with his Arrive Alive project, and earned an invite to the International Competition.

In the Civic & Culture category, the team that created Project Clean Sweep took home third place. The team was composed of Maddy Aguilar, Eliana Mendez, and Emily Rhee.

In the GIPS (Global Issues Problem Solving)—Junior and Middle Division, the Junior Division team—Anabella Glasco, Brenden Scarbough Sanders, Emily Rhee, and Will Skutens—placed first and Giles Platt came in fourth in the Middle Division, Individual category.

In the MAGIC (Multi-Affiliate Global Issues Problem Solving Competition) Team writers in the Junior Division, Lucien Guadagno took first place and Anthony DeMaio took fifth place.

In the Middle Division, Heidi Apfelbach and Ella Forbes took first place, Dempsey Manhart and Siena Bailey took second place, Harshvardhan Lochab and Jordan Wilson took third place, Emma Ball and Xavier Camacho took fourth place, Allie Brown and Imani Halyard took fifth place, and Mary Grace Seward, Kate Collins took sixth place.

In the Presentation of Action Plan, Middle Division, Sydney Mahon, Holden Carleton, Jacob Gibson, Ryan Jaeger, Americo Amaral, and Mary Grace Seward took sixth place.
In Scenario Writing, Middle Division, Ryan Jaeger took sixth place.




Rymfire Elementary coaches Caryn Taylor, Judy White, Amber Acosta, and Colleen Welsh took 18 students to the event; half of whom were invited to participate in the International Competition.

In the Community Problem Solving category, Team Project WINS (Welcoming New Students) placed second Junior. The team included Jaycob Griffin, Alijah Pressley, Gia Rego, and Ryan Shugart. They were invited to the International Competition.

Team Project, Vocab Lab, made up of Kenan Davis, Elissa Griffin, German Kabaloev, Evelyn Sheifer, and Elisei Volkovskiy placed first Junior, with an invitation to the International Competition.

In the MAGIC (Multi-Affiliate Global Issues Problem Solving Competition) Team Writing Junior Division, Kenan Davis came in first place, Clyde Moore took home second place, and German Kabaloev came in fifth.

Flagler Schools congratulates all our students who served as exceptional ambassadors for their schools and our District.