The McCracken County High School and Heath Middle School Future Problem Solving Teams attended the FPS International Conference at Indiana University, Bloomington on June 4-8, 2025 with students from 11 countries and 30 U.S. states to compete for world titles in Global Issues Problem Solving.
FPS is an academic competition that focuses on problem solving, critical thinking and decision making. Students apply these skills to hypothetical future scenarios related to various topics such as the Artificial Intelligence, Advancements in Agricultural Industry, and Nanotechnology. The students qualified for competition after winning District, Regional and State awards in Governor’s Cup earlier this year.
Jack Nelson, rising senior at MCHS, was selected to represent Kentucky as the flag bearer in the opening ceremony. Each affiliate flag bearer dressed to represent something historically significant from their state. Jack dressed as Abraham Lincoln, since the president was born in Kentucky.
In the Presentation of Action Plan competition, McCracken placed 3rd in the world with their plan to store data in DNA by translating binary codes into nucleotides. Team members included Jack Nelson, Riya Patel, Allison Ricketts, Gavin Schooley, and Brennen Hartman from MCHS, and Victoria Jordan from HMS.
In the Multi-Affiliate Global Issues Competition, MCHS rising junior, Sam Dobson brought home 1st place! In this competition, Sam was placed into a team with three students from other affiliate programs, providing them with an opportunity to collaborate with students around the world in problem solving.
The MCHS team also received high scores in the Global Issues Competition, going into final rounds ranked 8th in the world. Their final placement was just short of the awards podium, but the team’s coach, Melissa Bryan, says they are already looking toward the future with hopes of bringing home more titles next season!
Jack Nelson, Kentucky Flag Bearer
(L-R) Victoria Jordan, Allison Ricketts, Gavin Schooley, Jack Nelson, Brennen Hartman, Riya Patel, 3rd place Action Plan Presentation
Sam Dobson, 1st place Multi-Affiliate Global Issues Competition