Exploring Urban Agriculture
Nation’s Most Talented Sixth, Seventh and Eighth Graders Prepare to
Present Their Solutions as They Tackle This Year’s Theme,
Feeding Future Cities
at Annual Future City® Competition National Finals
Washington DC, February 16, 2015 – Many experts now predict that, in the coming decades, the
Earth’s arable land will no longer be sufficient to produce enough food for the planet’s growing
population. At the same time, nearly all of the world’s population growth between now and 2030 will be
concentrated in urban areas. With these two critical concerns converging, urban agriculture will be
essential to feeding the world’s population. Future City puts its student competitors in real world
situations and asks them to be the problem solvers as they brainstorm ideas and design solutions.
Since last fall, 40,000 middle school students from 1,350 schools in 37 national regions, as well as a new
region in China, have imagined, designed and built cities for the 2014-2015 Future City® Competition.
This year’s theme, Feeding Future Cities, encourages students to explore sustainable solutions to
ensure that the global communities of the future will continue to have access to fresh, affordable and
healthy food.
In January, each region held qualifying competitions to select the team that will represent its area in the
Future City Competition National Finals. Now, those finalists have been selected and the winners are
preparing to travel to Washington, DC for the National Finals, to be held at the Capital Hilton on Capitol
Hill, February 15-18, 2015, in preparation for Engineers Week. Hosted by Deysi Melgar, co-host of PBS’
“Design Squad Nation” and featuring former Senior White House Advisor for Nutrition Policy and Let’s
Move! Executive Director Sam Kass as a judge, the fierce competition takes place over four days and
results in one team taking home the grand prize of a trip to U.S. Space Camp and $7,500 for their
school’s STEM program (provided by National Finals sponsor Bentley Systems).
Future City has been proven to deliver on its educational promise. In 2013-14, Concord Evaluation
Group conducted an independent evaluation of the Future City Program. The study found that
participating students built 21st century skills, learned how their communities worked, gained a greater
appreciation for engineering, discovered team building skills and became more informed citizens. It also
found a statistically significant improvement in students’ ability to apply the engineering design process to
real-world problems.
"We need kids like us to come up with ideas for sustainable energy sources and food and water in the
future because we're the ones who are going to be running the future," said Lela Ormsby, a student at
O'Rourke Middle School who participated in the Albany, New York Regional Finals.
During the Future City Competition, students work as a team to design a virtual city using SimCity™
software. They research a city-wide issue and write an essay with their findings and solutions. They build
a tabletop scale model of their city using recycled materials costing no more than $100 and they write a
brief narrative promoting their city.
Keith Bentley, founder and CTO of Bentley Systems, host sponsor of the DiscoverE Future City
Competition for the past 19 years, said, “As an engineer, I can tell you that the Future City
Competition is exactly the type of program you need to attract young students with a penchant
for the technical disciplines. It allows them to work on highly complex problems that, once
resolved, will be of enormous benefit to many others. This year’s theme is particularly engaging,
given the crucial importance of developing technology and infrastructure that will enable urban
communities to become more self-sufficient when it comes to feeding their rapidly growing
populations. Based on Bentley Systems’ many years of involvement in this program, I’m
confident that this year’s bright and talented participants will come up with some amazing
solutions that city planners everywhere will want to consider. I want to personally congratulate
all of the finalists for their enthusiasm and dedication, and wish each of the teams the best of
luck!”
“These students really light up the room,” said Shell President, Marvin Odum. “Their energy is
contagious and their innovative ideas to grow sustainable cities will usher in a new generation of
responsible urban development. 9 billion people and the planet are counting on it.”
Future City has ongoing opportunities for engineering and technical professionals to volunteer in a
number of different roles, including mentors and regional coordinators. For information about Future City
or to volunteer, visit www.futurecity.org.
Major funding for the National Finals comes from Shell Oil Company, Bechtel Corporation, and Bentley
Systems.
About DiscoverE
DiscoverE is leading a growing volunteer movement that inspires and informs present and future
generations to discover engineering. Our network of volunteers in the US and abroad is drawn
from the DiscoverE coalition of more than 100 professional societies, major corporations and
government agencies. Together we meet a vital need: introducing students, parents, and
educators to engineering, engaging them in hands-on engineering experiences and making
science and math relevant. For more information, visit www.discovere.org.
CONTACT:
Future City Competition - National:
Carina Sayles
Sayles & Winnikoff Communications
(212) 725-5200 ext. 210
carina@sayleswinnikoff.com
2014-15 FUTURE CITY COMPETITION REGIONAL FINALISTS
Alabama
School: Academy for Science and Foreign Language
Hometown: Huntsville, AL
Future City Name: Era Verde
Louisiana
School: St. Thomas More
Hometown: Baton Rouge, LA
Future City Name: HABAN
Arizona
School: Maricopa Wells Middle School
Hometown: Maricopa, AZ
Future City Name: Diamant de l’Arizona
Michigan
School: St. John Lutheran School
Hometown: Rochester, MI
Future City Name: Lekol-la-fre
California (Northern)
School: Gratton School
Hometown: Denair, CA
Future City Name: Eureka Key
Mid-Atlantic
School: Edlin School
Hometown: Sterling, VA
Future City Name: Fortuna
California (Southern)
School: Wildwood School
Hometown: Santa Monica, CA
Future City Name: Jordbruk
Minnesota
School: Orono Middle School
Hometown: Long Lake, MN
Future City Name: Wolfish
Florida (South)
School: Saint Agnes Academy
Hometown: Key Biscayne, FL
Future City Name: Calfo Burdeo
Nebraska
School: Lewis Central Middle School
Hometown: Council Bluffs, IA
Future City Name: Ustawi
Florida (Tampa Bay)
School: Berkeley Preparatory School
Hometown: Tampa, FL
Future City Name: Springsburg
Nevada (Southern)
School: Hyde Park Middle School
Hometown: Las Vegas, NV
Future City Name: Frae Vonar
Georgia
School: Sherwood Christian Academy
Hometown: Albany, GA
Future City Name: Dorado Providence
New England
School: FVAMC
Hometown: Avon, CT
Future City Name: Frisch vom Dach
Great Plains
School: Southwest Middle School
Hometown: Lawrence, KS
Future City Name: T49 Blomstrende-Liv
New Jersey
School: Heritage Middle School
Hometown: Livingston, NJ
Future City Name: Marepolis
Idaho
School: Lake Hazel Middle School
Hometown: Boise, ID
Future City Name: ENAC
New Mexico
School: Deer Creek Middle School
Hometown: Littleton, CO
Future City Name: Nos Deleitamos
Illinois (Chicago)
School: St. Paul of the Cross School
Hometown: Park Ridge, IL
Future City Name: Vida Sierra
New York (Albany)
School: New Lebanon Jr./Sr. High School
Hometown: New Lebanon, NY
Future City Name: Recolteville
Indiana
School: Riverview Middle School
Hometown: Huntington, IN
Future City Name: Hydrophageopolis
New York (City)
School: Louis Pastuer Ms 67
Hometown: Queens, NY
Future City Name: Future Little Neck
Iowa
School: Harding Middle School
Hometown: Cedar Rapids, IA
Future City Name: Juelra
New York (Western)
School: The Alternative School for Math & Science
Hometown: Corning, NY
Future City Name: Fenix
Kentucky
School: Pikeville Jr. High School
Hometown: Pikeville, KY
Future City Name: Aquatanah
Ohio
School: Batavia Middle School
Hometown: Batavia, OH
Future City Name: Halycon
Oklahoma
School: Sequoyah Middle School
Hometown: Edmond, OK
Future City Name: Marseille de l’avenir
Pennsylvania (Central)
School: Warwick Middle School
Hometown: Litz, PA
Future City Name: C2-Aphaea
Pennsylvania (Philadelphia)
School: Queen of Angels
Hometown: Abington, PA
Future City Name: Aresvita
Pennsylvania (Pittsburgh)
School: The Ellis School
Hometown: Pittsburgh, PA
Future City Name: Jalikarra
South Carolina
School: Paul Knox Middle School
Hometown: North Augusta, SC
Future City Name: Korbinia
Texas (Central)
School: West Ridge Middle School
Hometown: Austin, TX
Future City Name: Aquatopolis
Texas (Houston)
School: Al-Hadi School of Accelerated Learning
Hometown: Houston, TX
Future City Name: Smeraldo
Texas (North)
School: Linda Fletcher’s Heart of Science Cooperative
Hometown: Rockwall, TX
Future City Name: Minato
Washington
School: Pacific Middle School
Hometown: Des Moines, WA
Future City Name: Felici
Wisconsin
School: St. Alphonsus Catholic School
Hometown: Greendale, WI
North Carolina
School: Langtree Charter Academy
Hometown: Mooresville, NC
Future City Name: Utopia
Future City Name: Yasai-Shi