Christian Cusano, eighth grade student at Granby Memorial Middle School, is the recipient of a third place recognition in the Middle Division of the 2019 Future Problem Solving of Connecticut statewide art competition held at North Haven High School on March 30. Christian’s piece, “Interplanetary Conflict,” was based on the global issue, Mission to Moon, Mars, and Beyond.
FPS is part of an international program of study for students in grades 4–12 interested in exploring solutions to future problems. There are four components to the program: visual art, scenario writing, team competition and community problem solving. Students select one of the global issues presented by the international office from which to guide their thinking and nonfiction research, then produce a creative product projected at least 20 years in the future, explaining through the written word or a visual two-dimensional piece of art and thesis statement their solution to the problem. This year, a small group of students at GMMS participated in both the art and writing components of the program as part of our newly launched schoolwide enrichment model.
Cusano’s Thesis Statement for Moon. Mars, and Beyond:
“Interplanetary Conflict
It is 2044. Fourteen-year-old Gina’s dad is an astronaut for NASA, and has recently travelled to Mars to take water samples and bring them back to Earth. However, with recent complications between the United States and Iran, the U.S. has shut down interplanetary travel until further notice to prevent Iran from attacking their beloved space program in retaliation for a recent attack on Tehran. This means that Gina’s dad is stuck on Mars until the U.S. says it’s alright to come back. Food is running low with the astronauts, and there is very limited space to grow crops, not enough to feed all 58 astronauts. Gina is stuck on Earth with her mom and brother, and all she wants is for her family to be reunited.”
Cusano’s art