Middle School S.T.E.M. Students Win Prestigious Awards in Future Cities Competition

Middle School S.T.E.M. (Science Technology Engineering Math) Students Win Prestigious Awards in Future-Cities Competition

“What will Sayville look like in 2120?”

“It is a difficult task to imagine,” agreed Mr. Jeffrey Goodman and Mrs. Lindsey Loscalzo, however their S.T.E.M. class “took on this challenge for a Future City Competition held in New York City. The competition combines a virtual city modeled on a computer, an essay describing how life will be different in the future, as well as plans to address those changes, along with a scale-model diorama, and a series of presentations in front of panels of judges.”

For several years Sayville S.T.E.M. students have been studying how cities work from planning, infrastructure, policy, and services.   These students not only had to image what kinds of changes would be necessary to serve future generations, but had to apply their knowledge in a culmination project for the competition.

“The entire S.T.E.M. class helped prepare the team by taking on different jobs, but six future thinkers went to the competition to face the judges and present our work,” Goodman and Loscalzo explained.  “Skylar Collins, Lia Bickerton, Elle Maslak, Jessica Menze, Ethan Entenberg, and Brendan Meyers were the students to turn our concept into a reality. The team won a very prestigious Third-place overall finish for the regional event, marking the highest award Sayville has won to date.”

“They also won the special award for most futuristic design. Each special award is assigned by a sponsor of the event, and represents a superlative in a specific category,” Mr. Goodman explained, “The award for most futuristic design was a category that made me really proud of the team. It was the focus of the entire competition and was presented by The American Society of Civil Engineers, a well-respected professional organization.”

“Sayville has always been successful in winning an award, however this was our most successful year!” said Mrs. Loscalzo. 

“So if you are concerned,” Goodman and Loscalzo added with pride,  “if any of Sayville’s students are up to the task of caring for you in the future, they already proved they can."

For more photos from the competition, click on this PHOTO ALBUM LINK.