Solon Future Problem Solvers Excel at States; Head to World Finals

Home field advantage proved just as powerful in academic competition as it is in athletics when Solon students excelled at the 2025 Future Problem Solver State Bowl hosted at Solon Middle School this month. Solon High School, Solon Middle School and Orchard Middle School students demonstrated exceptional creativity, critical thinking and teamwork as they competed against top teams from across the state.

"The students were fantastic and were so excited to be there," said Orchard and Solon High School FPS advisor Tanya Perez. She coaches along with SMS advisor Gayle Hauptman. "They represented Solon Schools so well. In fact, Solon High School won most of the awards available."

Many of the top-performing students have qualified to represent Solon at the World Finals in Indiana from June 4-8, where they will compete against the best problem solvers from around the globe. Congratulations to all of the state medal winners. Good luck to the Solon teams and individuals competing in the World Finals - they are noted in bold. 

SOLON HIGH SCHOOL

Presentation of Action Plan - Senior Division: First Place: Rebecca Jacob, Maahi Bandi, Abnar Fatima; 🔼Second Place: Eve Abounader, Sharvi Deshpande, Iris Li, Manasvi Gurajala, Shanvee Sood

Presentation of Action Plan - Middle Division: Third Place: Mannat Dhooria, Vedanshi Bhatt, Sofia Patro, Charvi Kora, Lillian Litherland

Creative Writing: First Place - Senior Division: Abby Xiong 🔼 Second Place - Senior Division: Mandi Lu 🔼 Third Place - Senior Division: Srinesh Nandhakumar 🔼First Place - Middle Division: Samipa Patel

Storytelling - Senior Division: First Place: Abby Xiong; Tied for Second Place: Nandita Srikumar and Maahi Bandi

Community Projects - Senior Division: First Place - Group: Samuel Kim and Ashwin Ramachandran 🔼 First Place - Individual: Nandita Srikumar

Global Issues - Middle Division: First Place - Team: Arjun Balasundaram, Rishi Gupta, Samipa Patel, Pradyun Manne, James Zhang (alt.) 🔼 Second Place - Team: Mannat Dhooria, Vedanshi Bhatt, Sofia Patro, Charvi Kora 🔼 Second Place - Individual: Lillian Litherland

Global Issues - Senior Division: First Place - Team: Nandita Srikumar, Nithya Natesan, Rebecca Jacob, Maahi Bandi 🔼 Second Place - Team: Grant Lee, Yuahn Kong, Frederick Song, Evan Dan 🔼 Third Place - Team: Hiba Patel, Yuvha Karthikeyan, Amritha Kishan, Sanvi Singh 🔼 First Place - Individual: Sophia Shong 🔼 Second Place - Individual: Abnar Fatima 🔼 Third Place - Individual: Mandi Lu

SOLON MIDDLE SCHOOL

Presentation of Action Plan: Second Place: Amogh Gupta, Genesis Choi, Akshara Gummadi, Marina Han, Joanna Josy

Global Issues Problem Solving: First Place - Individual: Hari Chimalakonda 🔼 Third Place - Individual: Nideesh Anabothula

ORCHARD MIDDLE SCHOOL

Presentation of Action Plan - Junior Division: Third Place: Alex Polien, Mahesh Pillai, Vihaan Deshpande, Mateo Alvarez Tostado, Akshath Ruppa Arunkumar

Global Issues - Junior Division: Fifth Place - Team: Lea Bogdan, Eleanor Yusuff, Ruby McLaughlin, Aadhya Mahesh 🔼 First Place - Individual: Srihas Gurijala 🔼 Second Place - Individual: Akshath Ruppa Arunkumar 🔼 Third Place - Individual: Avani Bhandane

Several of our team members qualified to participate in the Multi-Affiliate Global Issues Competition at World Finals, which pairs them with other students from schools around the world to work collaboratively in teams. They are:  Akshath Ruppa Arunkumar, Evan Bai, Nandan Jayaprakash, Lillian Litherland, William Hu, Yuvha Karthikeyan, Amritha Kishan, Srinesh Nandhakumar, Hiba Patel and Sanvi Singh.

For more photos, read the May 2025 issue of Know Your Schools.