FPS Virginia

Yes, Future Problem Solving works well beyond the classroom in all the spaces and places young people learn. Some groups participate in community-based Future Problem Solving clubs not affiliated with any school. Other students choose to take part as individuals. Great out-of-school time options for doing Future Problem Solving include after-school enrichment settings, youth development programs, and independent learning channels.

Use the registration interest form to share your information with us. Once we receive your registration submission, we will generate an invoice for the regular season registration fees for payment. Fees are due prior to the submission of any student work.

What are the registration deadlines? 
We recommend registering by October 1. Early registration allows for feedback on both optional Global Issues practice problems and extended time to complete Community Projects. There is no reduction in fees for later registrations. Students may register to compete in multiple programs.

Registration Deadlines

Global Issues: December 19
Community Projects: January 9
Creative Writing: January 20
Storytelling: January 3
Visual Arts: December 19
Learning: December 19

Global Issues
VA Teams (4 students): $160 per team
VA Individuals: $60 per student

Community Projects
VA Teams (up to 15 students): $160 per team
VA Individuals: $60 per student

Creative Writing 
VA Individuals: $60 per student 

Storytelling
VA Individuals: $60 per student

Visual Arts
VA Individuals: $60 per student

Learning
VA Teams: $60 per team

There may be additional fees for students attending the Virginia State Bowl.

Invoices are sent out through QuickBooks and can be paid either by check or electronic transfer. Coaches or bookkeepers wishing to pay with credit cards are asked to pay the finance charge (usually about 3%), since we are a nonprofit and all registration funds are used to support the coaches and students throughout the competition year.

All coaches gain access to instructional and program materials designed to help them guide their students through the problem-solving process as well as prepare for each regular season topic challenge.

Virginia program registration fees cover everything students need for each competition.

Topic learning units are also available for purchase. Each unit contains background research, more suggested readings, discussion questions, learning prompts, assessment resources, and activity units that pair topic information with 6-step problem-solving process training.

Additional fees are required for those invited to attend our Virginia state finals and our world finals.

We offer training workshops at the beginning of each season for coaches, senior students (grades 10-12), and program alumni. Advanced registration is due by September 21, 2026. There will be no on-site registration.

Registration Form

Coach Training Workshop
Saturday, October 3, 2026, 9:00 AM - 3:30 PM
Powhatan Middle School
The purpose of this workshop is to provide new coaches with an introduction to the the FPS process as well as an opportunity for Senior Division competitors to gain insight and strategies for assisting their team or FPS club. Senior Division competitors do not need to be accompanied by their coach of record.
Cost: $120 (includes lunch and snacks), $25 for Senior Division participants and Program Alumni

Evaluation Training Workshop
Saturday, October 24, 2026, 9:00 AM - 3:30 PM
Central Virginia location TBD
We will be use the Practice Problem #1 completed booklets. The purpose of this training is not only to train coaches, alumni of FPS, or high school seniors on the evaluation process for assisting the FPS Virginia evaluation team, but to assist coaches and students in understanding the intricacies of the FPS process and how teams are rewarded for their critical and creative thinking skills.
Cost: $40 (includes lunch and snacks), $20 for Senior Division participants and Program Alumni

Find everything else you need to know in our Resources Library to get started and get to work with Future Problem Solving competitions. Learn more about our program competitions, get inspired by our students’ work, find how-to articles, free tools, resources, and best practices to apply.

Our Topic Center and store also include many valuable coaching resources. Additional training is available upon request.

Our pilot Visual Arts program (only available for middle and senior division students) provides an opportunity for those with artistic ability to present original artwork that brings their image of the future to life. The real world issues we use engage and inspire learning. Artists develop a creative, futuristic piece of art to entertain and inform audiences using our annual topics as inspiration for their artistic expression. 

Students learn to thoroughly research a real world issue and make a prediction of the future using our 6-step problem-solving process. They relate their vision through a two- or three-dimensional piece of artwork (judged via photos in both the practice and qualifying rounds) along with a 100 word description. Artists compete as individuals. We invite regional winners to attend our Virginia state finals to showcase their artwork live (or via photos if their art is not transportable) at our state finals in-person. 

Each year, evaluators assess submissions of student work and provide authentic assessment and feedback. All Virginia evaluators must complete virtual training modules or in-person training in the program(s) they wish to evaluate and submit a sample of their evaluation for review. Many alumni find serving as an evaluator rewarding. Experienced senior division students may certify to evaluate younger divisions. Often, college students and professionals find evaluating fits their schedules well. Current coaches, parents, and other FPS Virginia leaders may choose to wear this hat, too. Retired coaches, educators, and professionals also enjoy staying connected by evaluating student work. Contact us for more information.

Anne Evans
(Community Projects coordinator)

Joanne Stanley
(Creative Writing coordinator)

Rose Browning
(Learning coordinator)

Open
(Storytelling coordinator)

LeeAnn VanVranken
(State Bowl coordinator)

Patty Haskins
(Affiliate Director)

Each year our regular season competition culminates with our Virginia state finals. Students are invited to the in-person event based on their performance in their qualifying submissions. We announce awards for all competitions at the event awards ceremony. For those who qualify (coaches, teams, individuals), there is a separate participation fee to cover the finals competition costs. 

Global Issues
Students are invited to participate in the state finals based on their performance on the qualifying problem. They complete the state finals problem on March 19. The requirements for submission for the problem topic are the same as those they used in prior problems.

On March 20, each team must present their written action plan in a skit. An action plan presentation is a creative performance or skit that represents the students’ problem-solving process and action plan. Students synthesize their problem solving into a creative performance based on their action plan for judges. Performed in front of a live audience, the presentation can be up to four minutes long. Teams are asked to include individual Global Issues finals competitors to perform in their skits.

Community Projects
All Community Projects teams (up to 15 students per team) and individuals are invited to participate in the state finals if all their required project work is submitted (proposal, report, and supplemental items). Students' project videos and/or any photos they submitted are showcased during the finals event.

Creative Writing

All writers submit their entry virtually in January and are invited to participate in the state finals event. The first place winners are asked to read their work. 

Storytelling
Students are invited to participate in the VA state finals based on their performance on the qualifying problem. The requirements for their performance are the same as those they used in prior problems.

Visual Arts

Visual Arts competitors are invited to attend the Virginia finals to participate in a Visual Arts fair.

Congratulations to all our 2026 Virginia Affiliate Finals winners. Over 125 students from 15 schools qualified for our state finals this year. The winners were announced March 21, 2026.

GLOBAL ISSUES – TEAM

Junior
1st place - Smith, Norton, Hamilton, Hampton (Flat Rock Elementary School) Coach: Watts *
2nd place - Verkay, Pilkenton, Campbell, Rohlfing (Pocahontas Elementary School) Coach: Anderson *
3rd place - Rusnok, Livingston, Gresh, Sanders (Orange Hunt Elementary School) Coach: Weis
Honorable mention - Qi, Jiang, Buczyna, Lin (Alpha STEM for the Gifted) Coach: He and Zhang
Middle 
1st place - Huang, Shen, Zhang, Xu (Alpha STEM for the Gifted) Coach: He and Zhang *
2nd place - Russo, Geiger (Powhatan Middle School) Coach: Winston *
3rd place - Shi, Jiang, Bi, Zhao (Alpha STEM for the Gifted) Coach: He and Zhang
Senior
1st place - Lwin, Yan, Fu, Liao (Thomas Jefferson High School for Science & Technology) Coach: Dukovich *
2nd place - Lokam, Shinde, Gogineni, Patel (Thomas Jefferson High School for Science & Technology) Coach: Dukovich * 
3rd place - Hemphill, Southworth, Ochoa, Shao (Gloucester High School) Coach: VanVranken
Honorable mention - Mantri, Agiwal, Thomas, Shukla (Thomas Jefferson High School for Science & Technology) Coach: Dukovich 

GLOBAL ISSUES – INDIVIDUAL

Middle 
1st place - Gadsby (Academy for Discovery at Lakewood) Coach: Walters *
Senior
1st place - Xu (Alpha STEM for the Gifted) Coach: He *
2nd place - Sun (Granby High School) Coach: Lee
3rd place - Layne (Granby High School) Coach: Lee 

GLOBAL ISSUES – ACTION PLAN PRESENTATION

Junior
1st place - Heley, Harris. Ridenhour, Kennedy (Powhatan Middle School) Coach: Ritter
2nd place -Gilliam, Smith, Nguyen (Orange Hunt Elementary School) Coach: Weis
3rd place - Qi, Jiang, Buczyna, Lin (Alpha STEM for the Gifted) Coach: He and Huang
Honorable mention - Rusnok, Livingston, Gresh, Sanders (Orange Hunt Elementary School) Coach: Weis
Middle 
1st place - Russo, Geiger (Powhatan Middle School) Coach: Winston
2nd place - Gallton, White, Jordan, Mott (Irving Middle School) Coach: Richter
3rd place - Vera, Richardson, Daffan, James (Irving Middle School) Coach: Richter
Honorable mention - Laster, Walters, Dowdy, Cockburn (Gloucester High School) Coach: VanVranken
Senior
1st place - Chattin, VanVranken, Spangler, Micket (Gloucester High School) Coach: VanVranken
2nd place - Hemphill, Southworth, Ochoa, Shao (Gloucester High School) Coach: VanVranken
3rd place - Na, Khare, Zhang, Xu (Thomas Jefferson High School for Science & Technology) Coach: Dukovich 
Honorable mention - Liang, Defede, Bai, Ward (Oakton High School) Coach: Rovira
Honorable mention - Wang, Liu, Vijayasarathy, Hager (Oakton High School) Coach: Rovira

COMMUNITY PROJECTS - TEAM

Middle 
1st Place - Project WOW - Townsend, Sichol, Schafer, Wheeler, Chan, Newton (Montross Middle School) Coaches: Carey-Reynolds and Evans 

CREATIVE WRITING 

Junior
1st place - Thompson (Washington District Elementary) Coach: Scherm *
2nd place - Lewis (Washington District Elementary) Coach: Scherm
3rd place - Morgan (Academy for Discovery at Lakewood) Coach: Walters
Middle
1st place - Valentine (Gloucester High School) Coach: VanVranken *
2nd place - Torkelsen (Powhatan Middle School) Coach: Bartholomew
3rd place - Falls (Northumberland High School) Coach: Jennings
Senior
1st place - Bunn (Northumberland High School) Coach: Jennings *
2nd place - King (Gloucester High School) Coach: VanVranken

* Invited to compete in the World Finals.

Schools that participated in the Virginia State Bowl: Academy for Discovery at Lakewood, Alpha STEM for the Gifted, Flat Rock Elementary School, Gloucester High School, Granby High School, Irving Middle School, Montross Middle School, Northumberland High School, Oakton High School, Orange Hunt Elementary, Pocahontas Elementary School, Powhatan Elementary School, Powhatan Middle School, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, Washington District Elementary School