Canton Whiz Kid: Team Shout

Name: CmPS Team SHOUT, Grade 6

School: Galvin Middle School

Key to Awesomeness: Channeling Frustration into Creativity

Accomplishments: Galvin Middle School sixth graders Abbigail Buchard, Sean Hanscom, Yasmine Kabbara, Matas Levekis, Connor McCue, Meryl Pendergast, Forrest Schmid, Katherine Stark and Jonathan Sutton are creating “a smoother transition into middle school to help ease the stress and anxiety that most students experience,” Coach Renee Hanscom said.

Hanscom is the volunteer parent coach for the Galvin Middle School’s Community Problem Solving (CmPS) Team SHOUT (Students Helping Other students Understand middle school Transition.) CmPS is a component of Future Problem Solving Programs International (FPSPI). Their website outlines how teams choose “real problems that exist in their community” and “apply their FPS skills [in the] implementation of the action plan.”  

While brainstorming their project for the year, Hanscom noticed frustrations like “lockers being stuck, confusion about finding classrooms, not getting out in time to meet the bus, and adjusting to three hours of homework each night” were coming up continuously.

When she focused the sixth graders directly on the transition to middle school, “the floodgates opened,” Hanscom said.  After learning they were not the first to experience frustration, their CmPS project was born.

Team SHOUT is working with Home Depot to come up with a directory board that will help confused students connect teachers and classrooms said Hanscom. They are also working on a DVD to prepare fifth graders and are creating a survival kit where future sixth graders can download tips, find a homework hotline, locate teachers and schedule time for homework and after-school activities.

Way to go Team SHOUT!