Earlham Community School had 4 teams compete in the Future City Competition in Cedar Rapids on Jan. 23rd.  The teams worked hard to compete against 40 other teams in the areas of engineering design process, project management, research, creativity, collaboration, and inquiry process.  

Prior to the competition each team had to develop a city using SimCity a computer program.  They had to create a slide show on the computer depicting their progress in developing their SimCity.  Each team had to submit a project plan along with a research and city description paper.  The students often referred back to the Program Handbook with its overviews, engineering processes, and extensive evaluation rubrics to make sure they were heading in the right direction and not forgetting anything. 

The day of the competition each team brought their physical model 2’ x 4’ model made mostly of recycled materials, lights and moving parts), presentation board, notes, and expensive form with receipts.  The students really enjoy the competition day because it is their time to shine after all of the hard work they have put in over the past months.  It is something to watch these students talk about their models and design choices.  They know the information and do not hesitate to explain their projects to the judges and other participants. 

Below are the team results: 

Diamond Ridge (Ella Goodrich, Molli Davis, Chloe Schaffer, Jackson Vandever, Cameron Terry) won 2 awards. From Rockwell Collin they won 2nd place in Best  Community Design and for the Spotlight Award they won Exemplary use of Environmentally Sound Principles.

Fort Bubba (Mathew Brindley, Cheyenne McDaniel, Colin Forcht, Olivia Nicholson, Alex Caskey, Jake Willem) scored the most points of all of our teams.  The Spotlight Award they won was Exceptionally Enticing City.

Greenatopia (McKenzi Young, Carly Schaffer, Gavin Hulbert, Kasch Peterson) won the Spotlight Award for Exemplary Family Friendly City.

Milky Way (Luke Ramsey, Mark Cabrera, Braydon Hamilton, Sammy Billington, Allison Beatty) won the Spotlight Award for Outstanding City Sustainability.