Qualifying for the National FPS championships was just the beginning to a life long  journey.  Leaving Greenpark School at 12 noon, the four Future Problems Solving team members and Mrs Mossop headed out of the  gates in the school van heading for Auckland.  Phoebe with directions in hand  navigated us to  Carey Park, Henderson.   Zac and Mark keep spirits high in the van with moro golds and pick and mix lollies.  Mrs Mossop quickly made sure the milk bottles didn’t go to waste. Matthew our team leader quietly tried to keep his crew in hand. 

Arriving at Carey Park we felt excited and a little nervous as everyone seemed to know one another and happy to see each other again and we were the newbies in camp.  We found our rooms sharing with Tauranga Boys/Girls College and other schools from around New Zealand.  We were warned to pack ear plugs and with 12  bunks to a  room it wasn’t going to be a good weekend  for  light sleepers.  Phoebe with her irritating cough was medicated by Mrs Mossop so we could all get some sleep.  Phoebe fell into a deep sleep wearing ear plugs and the rest of the room tried to get some important sleep before the big day ahead of us.

Saturday morning teams gather together trying to make the most of the last minute team arrangements.  We drove to Henderson Valley School nervously finding our classroom to then be  then escorted out and officially taken to our designated classroom, oops.  Wasting no time we got underway settling our nerves and the two hour challenge began.  Reading the Future Scene we felt dumbstruck wondering how we were going to identify the challenges in front of us.  Mark reassuring the team at all times kept us going step by step through the plan, and Matthew reminded us often to concentrate and think of the  promise of McDonalds from Mrs Mossop if we win.  We  finished feeling good with 3 minutes to spare.

Relieved we had that challenge behind us we made our way to St Lukes to have some important timeout prior to having to prepare for our dramatic presentation the next morning.  Appetites suppressed from plenty of yummy extras along the way we headed back into the van to begin brainstorming our dramatic presentation .  Mrs Mossop left the noisy situation and visited the tank juice café for some extra energy and a bit of peace and quiet.

We returned to Carey Park at 3pm to further practice our presentation followed by a delicious roast meal and desert.  The evening required us to participate in shared group activities.    Most team members managed to secure prizes for their group efforts apart from poor little Mark Miller.

Ten o’clock lights were out and Phoebe had decided to make a bed in the school van outside our room to make sure she didn’t keep anyone awake with her coughing.  Most residents were enjoying their peaceful sleep until the alarm to the school van went off………………………oh no ………..!

Sunday morning rise and shine, great breakfast, rooms cleaned, Phoebe announces she thinks she has chickenpox to Mrs Mossop!   The dramatic presentation competition was performed by all schools to test team’s creativity and spontaneity.     Our performance was fun and went mostly as planned so we could now sit back and be entertained by the others.

Finally hot, tired and the weekend coming to an end we only had prize giving ahead of us.  What a great weekend we had had.   Knowing the worst we could be placed was 3^rd in our Youth Primary Competitive division, we had nothing to lose and everything to gain.  Most schools dressed into their number ‘one’ uniforms, ties, blazers, skirts, trousers, stockings, socks  and polished shoes.  We dressed in our sports uniforms and were voted the most sensible uniform considering the temperature was 25 degrees.  The Greenpark School team sat at the very front row of the seated area to get the best view of everyone and get up close to all those shiny cups.  The individual places were announced and committee members recognised for their continued support and time given to Future Problems Solving.   

Finally they announced 3^rd in the  youth division and it wasn’t us, could it be,  then they announced 2^nd and it wasn’t us, our faces lit up,  we knew what they were going to say next and we could hardly contain ourselves.  We were placed 1^st and Mrs Mossop had to buy us McDonalds!  WOW, we cheered and hugged one another and everyone gave us a big applause because we were the only school amongst those there to never have been to the national finals before and Mrs Mossop was the only coach amongst the coaches to have never been there also.  So Greenpark School made history once again thanks to us and we are so motivated and excited about the opportunities available to us in the coming years at Intermediate and College.   Our ambition is definately to qualify for the International Future Problem Solving competition held in Amercia. 

Thanks to Greenpark School and Mr Lind for making this opportunity available to Matthew Taylor, Mark Miller, Phoebe Nicholson and  Zac Hobbis .