Students at Port Huron’s Central Middle School have brought home the Best Use of Energy Prize from the Michigan Regional Future City Competition, held in Novi last week. Their innovative use of simulated battery-powered generators stood out from the rest of the competition.
Future City is put on by the Engineering Society of Detroit and is described as a “cross-curricular educational program where students in 6th, 7th, and 8th grades imagine, design, and build cities of the future”. Students use SimCity software to design their city, write an essay about it, build a city from recycled materials, and present their plan and project to a panel of judges. This year’s theme was “Clean Water: Tap into Tomorrow.”
Central’s Principal Shawn Shackelford said that the kids worked very hard and are already planning for next year after hearing some of the other presentations. He credited the parents of the participants and staff members Ms. Hein and Mrs. Pawson for mentoring the team. He said that the team was a little nervous as this was their first time in the competition, but they learned a lot and are excited about next year’s theme: “Life on Mars.”
Reporting for WGRT, Karly Hurley.
