Future City Team Wins Regional Competition for 3rd Consecutive Year

Congratulations to O’Rourke Middle School’s Future City team for winning first place, for the third consecutive year, at this weekend’s 2020 Future City Albany Regional Competition. The team advances to the National Competition held in Washington, D.C.  in February.

In addition to the team’s city, Nerosparta, winning the regional competition, the team also received awards for Best Simulated City, Best Green Design Model and Most Innovative Use of Renewable Energy.

The Capital District Future City Competition is an educational program for middle school students (6th, 7th and 8th graders) to use their creative and innovative imaginations to design a city of the future. The students work with their teacher coach and an engineer-volunteer mentor from the community to design and build the city. The students apply math, science, engineering and technology, as well as enhance their writing and presentation skills, through this project.

Using this year’s challenge, Clean Water: Tap Into Tomorrow,  students were charged with:

  • Using the new SimCity software to design a virtual model of their futuristic city,
  • Creating a Project Plan, which mimics the engineering design process,
  • Building a physical 3D model of their city using creative materials such as recycled goods,
  • Demonstrating their writing skills through a 1,500-word essay that answers the assigned engineering design problem and describes major features and highlights found in the team’s future city, and
  • Enhancing communication skills though a team presentation.

“This was an extremely impressive presentation,” says Superintendent Dr. Patrick McGrath. “The skit was flawless,  the model was incredible, and the ideas that were used in the design were extremely well thought out. The team did an outstanding job!”

Congratulations to Future City team members: Miles Bechtel (grade 7), Sawyer Brannigan (grade 7), Thomas Kotkoskie (grade 7), Owen LeClair (grade 7),  Maggie Miazga (grade 7), Ethan Swift (grade 7), Ceres Winchester (grade 7), Gregory Tomik (grade 7), Brayden Townsend (grade 7), Nicole Boyea (grade 8), Gavin Heritage (grade 8), Duncan Dauphinee (grade 8), Patrick Robbins (grade 8), Nolan McFarland and (grade 8), Howard Bearce (grade 8) and apprentices (first year team members): Sabine Adams (grade 6), Gianna DeMartino (grade 6), Chris Dempsey (grade 6), Megan Emerich (grade 6), Anne Ireland (grade 6), Richard St. Sir (grade 6), Chris Guo (grade 7), and Evan Ellsworth (grade 8). As well as coaches and middle school teachers Katie Duell and Nick Morocco and mentors Erik LeClair and Jennifer Wiederhold.

Congratulations and good luck at the National Competition!