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Franklin CmPS Press Coverage | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Franklin Flood Flushers are tops in tourney Problem-solving team uses lessons learned from flood to win international competition | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Franklin Public Schools gifted resource teacher Patti Rabil continued to coach the Flushers even after four of the six team members could not fit problem-solving into their class schedules.
This article appeared in the Friday, Augest 17, 2001 edition of the Virginia-Pilot, the daily newspaper of Hampton Roads, including Franklin. You can contact Phyllis Speidell at 757 483-9161 or 757 222-5556.
Reprinted by permission. | |||||||||
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BY PHYLLIS SPEIDELL THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT Photos by John H. Sheally II
The Franklin Flood Flusher are, from left, Brian Carter, Nichole Bulls, Daniel Moseley, Jonathan Lackey, and Brandy Pulley (Will Powers not pictured). They were named grand champions in the International Future Problem Solvers competition in June. | |||||||||
FRANKLIN - When Jonathan Lackey became a Franklin Flood Flusher two years ago he had no way of knowing his hometown's fate. He didn't know he would end up devoting many hours repairing flood damage caused by Hurricane Floyd. And, through months of clearing and cleaning flood- ravaged buildings and sorting tons of supplies, he never dreamed that he and fellow Flood Flushers would receive international recognition for their efforts. The Franklin Flood Flushers, made up of six 2001 Franklin High School graduates, are Will Powers, Nichole Bulls, Brian Carter, Jonathan Lackey, Daniel Moseley and Brandy Pulley. They represented the school at the International Conference of Future Problem Solvers held in June at the University of Georgia in Athens. Forty teams from around the world attended the competition. The Franklin team was selected as the international grand champion of the senior community Problem-solving division. The competing teams were judged on their project presentations, including a group interview, summary, scrapbook and display. On Thursday evening, the Franklin Board of Education commended the dynamic teens, who've already been recognized by the City Council. "Our Flood flushers are second to none," said Vice Mayor E. Kent Pope. Future Problem Solvers is an elective, competitive program that University of Georgia professor E. Paul Torrance started in 1974 to encourage students to think creatively and solve difficult problems. At Franklin High, a Community Problem Solving class is associated with Future Problem Solvers. The six teens were just beginning their junior year as members of Patti Rabil's problem-solving class when Hurricane Floyd inundated Franklin with 22 feet of water. Quickly, they transformed themselves into the Franklin Flood Flushers and joined hundreds of volunteers in cleaning up and restoring the city and surrounding area. When four of the six could not fit the class into their senior year schedule, they continued to work as Flood Flushers on an extracurricular basis with Rabil as their coach. As the city began to recover, the Flushers used their energy to create an Internet directory of the new locations of businesses that had been destroyed. They produced "The Rebounder," a monthly newsletter updating the community on the recovery progress and developed a "Downtown Product and Service Guide" to help rejuvenate downtown businesses. They also did the research that helped Franklin receive a grant for a historic river walk to be built along the Blackwater River. In the meantime, they sorted and distributed mountains of donated supplies. "We moved boxes - many, many boxes," Lackey said, admitting that he originally signed up for the class to have a good time. "It was not as much fun as I thought," he said, smiling. "It was a great opportunity for teen-agers to step up and show we have the potential to make a difference when we have a chance," Bulls said. "I thing we opened a lot of adult eyes." Rabil, a gifted resource teacher for Franklin Public Schools, has worked with four of the six in problem-solving classes since they were in fourth grade. "They have really proved to the community that there is a lot of value to teen-agers, an awful lot of good, energy and dedication there, too," she said.
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