Students earn second in Future City competition

Indian Hill Middle School Braves

also recognized for two special awards

NEWS RELEASE: Heather Higdon, Director of Communications 

INDIAN HILL, OH (February 9, 2022) – Indian Hill Middle School students Vedant Buch, Luke Bergstrom, and Myles Paul earned second place overall in the Ohio Future City Regional Competition. 

Pictured left, the middle school students were also recognized with two special awards. 

“Our students did an outstanding job,” said Indian Hill teacher and Future City mentor Amanda Sopko. “We are so proud of all they have accomplished!”

According to the news release from Future City, teams of sixth, seventh, and eighth graders researched technologies, designed cities, presented plans and models, and wrote 1,500-word essays on the topic, “A Waste-Free Future,” which asked the teams to design futuristic, waste-free cities. 

“Future City is an excellent program tailored for students in middle school, with a focus on simulating engineering fields,” said Indian Hill Middle School Principal Jennifer Ulland. “It gives our students an introduction into a wide range of experiences, such as civil, electrical, chemical, agricultural, biomedical, mechanical, computer software, and hardware engineering. We are incredibly proud of the dedication our students showed in the design process, and we congratulate them on this achievement.”

The teams also competed for awards in special categories including infrastructure, transportation, use of energy, use of recycled materials, and land surveying practices.

In addition to placing second overall, the Indian Hill Middle School students also won two special awards: Best Land Surveying Practices, and Outstanding Use of Circular Economy Principles.

“This competition pushes our students to learn about engineering in a competitive environment outside of the classroom, and it is a complement to skills they are learning through our science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) program within Indian Hill Middle School,” said Indian Hill teacher and Future City mentor Sandy Gemmel. “As an educator, I’m so excited to see our students have so many opportunities to learn and excel.”

According to the organization’s news release, the Future City Competition is a national, not-for-profit education program. Across the country, more than 40,000 students from 1,350 middle schools typically participate in the competition nationwide. Thirty schools began the competition in Ohio and six competed in the regional finals. For more information contact Future City Ohio at www.futurecity.org/ohio. The Ohio regional competition was sponsored in part by Commonwealth Associates, Ohio University, Ohio EPA, and American Society of Highway Engineers.

For more information, please visit www.indianhillschools.org