I had the fun and exciting pleasure to enjoy the Future City finals in Washington DC last week. Our future is in good hands as far as I can see. These kids are planning for the future and the future is looking fabulous with such innovative thinkers.. Future City is a project-based learning program where students around the country in 6th, 7th, and 8th grades use their imagination to research, design, and build cities of the future. This year the finals took place in Washington, DC on February 21, 2017, where students from West Ridge Middle School in Texas (North) won the competition. Way to go kids!
Future City is an engineering competition that starts with the question – How can we make this world a better place? The topic for the 2016-2017 competition was Power of Public Space. “Students present their solutions via a virtual city design (using SimCity); a 1,500-word city essay; a scale model; a project plan, and a presentation to judges at Regional Competitions in January” (www.futurecity.org) and the winners move on to the finals in DC. These students represent the future of engineering and learn about real world matters and how to make what they imagine come to fruition.
This month’s finals showcased the talent of the best of the best in a field of promising young competitors from across the country. In honor of the 25th anniversary of Future City, 25 voices were invited to speak to the students, educators, volunteers, mentors and partners that were in attendance. Kevin Milans was a participant in the first ever Future City competition and Carolina Ragola, a Future City South Florida alumni spoke of engineering, stating it’s “not all just duct tape and WD-40”. Sponsors from Shell Oil and and Bentley Systems were on hand to speak, as were many Future City educators. Students were inspired to dream big and make things happen.
Teams at this year’s finals had a chance to win a trip to Space Camp and $7,500 from Bentley Systems, Inc., as well as additional cash prizes to help fund their school’s STEM program.
Future City students learn a great deal about the field of engineering as they work through the early stages and progress to the final competition. They learn how to apply science and math concepts to real world issues, develop public speaking and problem solving skills and discover different types of engineering careers. The top five teams enjoyed their journey to the finals competition in Washington, DC and earned great prizes that will benefit their school in upcoming years. Fun times were had by all in attendance and I know I, myself, was proud to be a part of this wonderful event promoting the future of engineering.
This review was made possible by iConnect Influencer Management and Future City. I was compensated for my participation in this campaign, but all opinions are 100% mine.
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