On the morning of Saturday, January 25, a group of thirteen Marion Center junior high students, accompanied by Mrs. Julie Brendlinger, got on a bus to go to the Future City Competition in Pittsburgh.
In order to compete in the Future City Competition the students had been working hard since the beginning of the school year.
The theme for the competition this year was “Above the Current.” Participating teams had to create a city that floated on water in order to help combat sea level rise.
The Marion Center team created a floating city, a mile off of the coast of Amsterdam, in the North Sea. Verbinden, their city, uses innovative and futuristic power sources, is rich in culture and diversity, and ensures a positive impact on the environment surrounding their city.
The first part of the competition was to create an essay describing the city they created in detail. This step takes a lot of research. The team was able to go to IUP to interview professors, Dr. Tang and Dr. Ghosh. They also were able to meet with Dr. Van der Zanden, a floating cities engineer from the Netherlands. The essay covers everything about their city, from the city’s name, Verbinden, to the power sources used in the city. After that, they built a scale model representing the city.
At the competition, various Marion Center students talked to special awards judges. However, only three team members, the presenters, are allowed in the judging room.
The students on the Marion Center team this year were seventh graders, Connor Combs, Isaac Gaudreau, Jacob McIsaac, Mason Miller, Silas Pollock, Aspen Ratay, Grady Roach, Jameson Stile, and Gabriel Vaglia. The eighth graders on the team were Abigail Abd, Connor Schroyer-Mancuso, Maggie Vaglia, and William Weil. This year’s presenters were three of the eighth graders, Abigail Abd, Maggie Vaglia, and William Weil.
Last year, Marion Center brought home the third place trophy. This year, at the competition the team placed first in the first round of judging. After that, special awards were announced and our school’s team was awarded the “Best Waste Management System” special award.
Finally, they announced which teams would be advancing into the final round of judging. Marion Center made it into the final round of judging. Although Lincoln Park placed first in the final round of judging, Marion Center still brought home a great win after placing second in the competition.
