by NZ CATHOLIC staff
A year 11 Auckland student will represent New Zealand at the Future Problem Solving International Conference in June.
Thao Tran is to travel to Michigan University in June to compete against “Future Problem Solvers” from around the world.
St Mary’s College student Thao Tran, 15, has been involved in the Gifted and Talented Education (GATE) programme for two years.
Last year, as part of the Future Problem Solving programme, she was awarded national champion in scenario performance (middle division).
That component required her to create and tell a futuristic story based on a current programme topic, then present it to a targeted audience.
Thao chose “The Impact of Social Media”. Her award led to the invitation to attend the international conference at Michigan University this year, where she will face about 2000 other students from around the world.
Thao will be the only New Zealand representative from a Catholic school, and the only individual competitor in her division.
She said Future Problem Solving had enhanced the way she thinks and challenged her mind. “It has inspired in me the will to be a global citizen problem solver,” she said.
Now she will be focused not only on schoolwork, but on raising enough money to get to and attend the conference. She has a Give a Little page to help her reach her goal.
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