l to r: Judith Vihonski, Sidney Anderson, 14, Benjamin Clauss, 14 and Jeevan Jeyabalan 13. Photo by K.R.R. Photography
The middle school students of today, in ten short years, will be the engineers, designers, and architects for America’s future. Students at Valley Middle School proved once again that America can guarantee a better future through cooperation, creativity, and hard work
Each year The Future City Competition promotes the skills needed to turn an idea into reality; each year Valley Middle School ranks with the best in the nation. Sidney Anderson, Benjamin Clauss, and Jeevan Jeyabalan, Grade 8 students at Valley Middle School in Oakland, were awarded Second Place at the National Future City Competition in Washington, D.C., and received a $5,000 technology grant for their school. The team’s work received further recognition by earning the National Competition’s Special Award for Best Future City Model.
The 2011 Valley Middle School Team continued the school’s winning tradition in this Competition. This was the tenth year that a Valley Middle School team became Regional Champions in the engineering program, thus advancing to the National Competition. Last year’s team also won the Second Place Award.
“I am extremely proud of this team and all the teams that have represented VMS at the national competition”, said Future City Coach Judith Vihonski. “When we advanced to the finals in DC, one of the Future City official told the students that they were “the cream of the crop of the cream of the crop. Our students and our models are always top-notch! More than 33,000 students from 1,000 middle schools in 35 regions across the country participated in the 19th Annual National Engineers Week Future City® so we are elated with our Best Model Award and second place win!”
Team members wowed the engineer judges and extolled the virtues of their future city, which was located in Australia, with a unique presentation. Team member Ben Clauss, an engineer in “Crocodile Dundee attire” and boasting an Aussie accent, explained the city of the future with team member Sidney Anderson, the quarry control manager. In the presentation, Jeevan Jeyabalan played an investor from India, who was quite “gob smacked” by the city, and listened to his teammates description, adding information that he had obtained though due diligence on United Reclamation, the city creator. Following their presentation, the students defended their design before a panel of engineer judges who tested the depth of the team’s knowledge.
The city that the team designed, Eleebana Wahan (Peaceful Water), is a reclamation project surrounding a granite quarry and features a Health Dome, helicoid bridges, cliffside condos, and a humanoid robot named PAM. With more than 850 team hours invested on the city’s development, the students completed most of the work during after school hours.
The winning entry consisted of a Sim City computer model, an essay on “Providing A Reliable and Effective Health Care System That Improves A Sick, Injured or Disabled Patient’s Quality of Life and Comfort,” a narrative, a table top model, and a presentation.
The students traveled to Washington, DC, with their teacher/coach, Ms. Judith Vihonski, and presented and defended their city to panels of engineers. Mr. Robert Akovity was the team’s engineer-mentor and Mr. Ned Carpenter was the model facilitator. Former national contestants Kevin Cheetham, Alec Carpenter, and Matt Whittle served as student mentors.
“We are extremely proud of our Valley Middle School students for doing so well with their future city design”, said Valley Middle School Principal Peter Hughes. “The skills that the team demonstrated throughout this competition are exactly what is needed to build a brighter tomorrow. They integrated creativity, collaboration, engineering, science, and problem solving. I am proud to see Valley Middle School students leading the way in these areas. I have no doubt that both our students and our nation have bright futures as a result of the potential demonstrated by our young people today.”