Team advances to national competition in Washington, D.C.
On January 18, the Farnsworth Middle School Future City team won first place in the Future City regional competition for the third year in a row. The FMS team competed against other Capital Region schools to advance to the national competition, which will be held in Washington, D.C., Feb. 17-20.
A hands-on, cross-curricular educational program with a STEM focus, Future City designates a theme and a challenge for the school year’s competition. With the 2024-25 theme of “above the current,” teams were tasked to create a floating city that protects its citizens and keep them healthy and safe from rising sea levels.
The nineteen-student team created Ville des Marées, a city built on a foundation of biorock. A material similar to limestone that grows in a way that makes it look like a coral reef, biorock also serves as a protective barrier that encircles Ville des Marées. Biorock has been found to replenish marine ecosystems and restore coastlines affected from erosion. Ville des Marées uses bioremediation to keep its citizens healthy. Additionally, the FMS team utilized pearl oyster mushrooms, which have been found to decompose plastics, as a way to clean the water of Ville des Marées.
Beginning in October and over several months, the FMS team researched, designed and built the model of Ville des Marées. As required for the competition, the students created four project plans, wrote an essay and a script. In December, they voted to select three members who would represent the team and lead the presentation at the competition. These representatives presented the script, which described Ville des Marées, and went through an eight-minute question-and-answer session conducted by judges.
In addition to overall first place, the FMS team won seven speciality awards: Best Use of Recycled Materials in a Model, Best Utilization of a Transportation System, Best City to Live In – Student Vote, Best Public Transportation System, Best Model Design, Best Question & Answer Session and Best Future City Presentation.
Congratulation to the entire FMS Future City team, their advisors and mentors; best of luck in the national competition!
Aditri Arya
Anika Bhupati
Levi Hawrylchak (presenter)
Justin Jian
Jackson Kearney
Saaqib Maraicayer
Aadya Mavuleti
Jasmine Mishra (Presenter)
Ishanvi Nerallapali
Anishka Panda
Andrei Popa
Moksha Prasad Pathipati (Presenter)
Veda Reddy
Nathaniel Russaliah
Darshana Saravanakumar
Tanvi Shamanthula
Andrew Smith
Santino Stalteri
Armaan Varma
Jennifer Smith, Adult Mentor
Eugen Popa, Adult Mentor
Nancy Behrens, Instructor
Kelly Werner, Instructor
About Future City Competition
Future City Competition is an educational program for middle school students to explore their creative and innovative imaginations to design a city of the future. Students learn how to apply math, science, engineering and technology to develop a realistic future community and compete for regional prizes, including a trip to Washington, D.C. to compete in the national competition.
Each year, over 60,000 students, representing 1,800 schools and 38 regions in the US, take part in the Future City Competition. Teams present their ideas at Regional Competitions in January. United States regional winners then face off at the Future City Finals, where they are joined by a growing roster of international teams, including those from Canada and China. Taking place in Washington D.C., Feb. 17-20, the exciting competition culminates with one team taking home the grand prize including $7,500 for their school’s STEM program (provided by Finals sponsor Bentley Systems) and a STEM experience. Last year, the FMS Future City team won the national competition.