By: Isaac Bentley, Oak Pasche, and Sophia McGee

On Friday, March 28, 2025, students in Decorah High School’s Advanced English 9 class competed at Iowa’s State Future Problem Solving (FPS) Bowl at Central College in Pella, Iowa. To reach the state level, students had to advance from the regional level. Future Problem Solving presents students with a fictional scenario set in the future. Students then analyze the scenario, using critical thinking skills to identify an underlying problem within the scene and problem-solving skills to generate a solution. The competition welcomes 4th through 12th grade students in several categories: global issues, community projects, creative writing, and storytelling. Students participating in FPS develop skills that are beneficial in both school and work environments, including leadership, communication, problem solving, creative thinking, and writing.

Decorah’s four teams competed in the global issues category, and Nils Peterson submitted a short story in creative writing. Future Problem Solvers received a scenario built around nanotechnology usage in the future. Over the course of two hours, students developed a solution to combat possible issues that could arise from the scenario.

At the awards ceremony, Decorah’s successes were revealed. The team of Nils Peterson, Kaya Johnson, Charlotte LaBelle, and Matthew Burkholder was declared state champions in Global Issues. This group now has the exciting opportunity to compete at the FPS 2025 International Conference, held in Bloomington, Indiana, this June. Nils Peterson received 2nd place in the state middle division for his short story entitled “Hanz’s Vertical Farming Fiasco.”  Pranav Caton and Sophia McGee received 4th place in a skit performance presenting their solution to the nanotechnology scenario. Those two, along with Raelyn Newhouse, earned 6th place in the state for their global issues submission.  Advanced English 9 teacher Addie Sadler shared, “I am so proud of my students and the hard work they have put into this contest. It is not easy, but they persevered and won! This is an excellent group of future leaders.”

Photo ID DHS FPS State (l-r):

Rachel Weis, Raelyn Newhouse, Kaya Johnson, Charlotte LaBelle, Isaac Bentley, Max Goodner, Oak Pasche, Matthew Burkholder, Oscar Grimstad, Pranav Caton, Nils Peterson, Poppy Bellrichard, Leah Garcia-Prats, and Sophia McGee. 

DHS FPS First Place Winners (l-r):

Matthew Burkholder, Nils Peterson, Charlotte LaBelle, and Kaya Johnson