Students from the Genoa Middle School Future City Team, who took first place in the State of Ohio at this year’s Ohio Future City Competition, traveled to Washington D.C. from February 13 – 17 to compete in the National Future City Competition, where they placed 10th. They were also selected as one of the teams to have their presentation broadcast in more than 43 languages world-wide. The theme of this year’s contest, “Waste Not, Want Not,” challenged pupils to design a city that provided unique and innovative solutions to waste management challenges.
Students put in long hours competing and the judges were impressed with how the team represented both Westerville City Schools and the state of Ohio. Pupils Adriane Thompson, Kendel Seabury, Robert B., Emily Smith, Justin Wade, and Zach Smith, along with teacher Debbie Pellington and engineer mentor Dino Torlone, represented the team in Washington D.C. and were cheered on from Westerville by fellow team members Madelyn McConnell, Matt Boller, Sarah Gellner and Jeremy Gellner. In the short amount of free time the students had to tour Washington D.C., they visited the Air and Space Museum and the Washington Monument, and enjoyed an amazing tour of the Capitol Building and the White House.
Future City encourages interest in engineering by providing hands-on applications for math and science, and lays the foundation for developing workplace skills such as vision and imagination, troubleshooting, teamwork and cooperation and is sponsored by National Engineers Week, founded in 1951 to increase public awareness and appreciation of the engineering profession and technology.