During the first semester, Cardinal Middle School participated in the Future City Competition program put on by National Engineer’s Week. Students work together to create a name, location, and various aspects for a future city. The students also tackle a major problem within the city and research the best ways to solve it. This year the problem involved transportation and congestion in a city.
Teacher Shaun Spence and volunteer engineer/mentor Jason Traggiai worked along with Debbie Morgan (Geauga ESC Gifted Coordinator) to guide the students in the various steps of the Future City program. This culminated with three 8th graders representing Cardinal in Columbus for the competition held at Columbus State Community College on January 18. Leading up to the actual competition, approximately 40 middle school students (grades 6-8) helped participate in various forms of the Future City program.
This included creating a research paper, city narrative, virtual city (using Sim City software), and a 3D model of the city. The three 8th grade students (Hanna Traggiai, Hayden Cummins, and Brendan White) prepared a presentation to share before a panel of judges in Columbus.
Cardinal Middle School didn’t place in the overall competition, but did receive a few special awards. Cardinal won 1st place in Best Architectural Model and Best Land Surveying categories. Cardinal Middle School was also runner-up in the Rookie of the Year Award – given to the top placers among first time participating schools. Overall, the Future City experience was a very rewarding one for students and a proud moment for Cardinal.
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