MS S.T.E.M. Students Shoot for the Moon

“Imagine a city on the Moon in the year 2121?”

Such was this year’s Future City Competition challenge for the Sayville Middle School S.T.E.M. students.

While in previous years, the Middle School team would collaborate on various aspects of their design, for example:  They would have to consider how to support life for a large population? How to make it self-sufficient? What would it be like to actually live there?

There was another factor to consider in their efforts to plan this future city.  How to work in a collaboration that had some students in person and others working remotely on alternating days?

These extra hurdles, including that the competition would be virtual this year, was what Mr. Jeffrey Goodman, Mrs. Lindsay Loscalzo and their students faced.

Mr. Goodman explained, “It was a major challenge for our planning and decision making only having half the team present and half the team virtual when we were working.”

Mrs. Loscalzo said, “This was the most exciting theme we have ever been given and we got to use our chemistry knowledge from seventh grade to imagine a future that would allow humans to live on the moon permanently.”

The team, tasked with a very interesting theme this year, researched what types of industry could make a city possible in such a remote setting.

While the entire Sayville team was disappointed by the impact of the Pandemic on the usual experience—the trip into Manhattan to compete in person and to see what other schools had been able to accomplish was not possible--they realized even completing the assignment felt like an accomplishment. As it turned out, during this year’s competition, nearly half the competing teams that had registered were unable to overcome the difficulties of working and competing remotely.

Despite everything, the Sayville students were very successful this year, just like past teams. Sayville was able to overcome the collaboration difficulties and take fourth place overall for the region. Mr. Goodman and Mrs. Loscalzo both agreed that not only do their “students have a bright future,” but they were confident that “their current students will be their future leaders.”

Kudos to the following students who participated: Donovan Bartolotta,  McKenna, Broderick, Christian Buono, Angelina Campos, Taylor Carpentieri, Emma Como, Christopher  Costa, Jasmine Evans, Vincent  Fontanetta, Abigail Galaris, Grace Garafola, Lisa Kotkiewicz, Andrew Law, Steven Mercorella, Gioia Racanelli, Maura Reilly, Scarlett Reilly, Kamryn Restivo, Robert Rubino, Andrew Thiakodemitris, Adria Vargas, Jordan Weber, Samuel Wilbert.

“Imagine a city on the Moon in the year 2121?”

Such was this year’s Future City Competition challenge for the Sayville Middle School S.T.E.M. students.

While in previous years, the Middle School team would collaborate on various aspects of their design, for example:  They would have to consider how to support life for a large population? How to make it self-sufficient? What would it be like to actually live there?

There was another factor to consider in their efforts to plan this future city.  How to work in a collaboration that had some students in person and others working remotely on alternating days?

These extra hurdles, including that the competition would be virtual this year, was what Mr. Jeffrey Goodman, Mrs. Lindsay Loscalzo and their students faced.

Mr. Goodman explained, “It was a major challenge for our planning and decision making only having half the team present and half the team virtual when we were working.”

Mrs. Loscalzo said, “This was the most exciting theme we have ever been given and we got to use our chemistry knowledge from seventh grade to imagine a future that would allow humans to live on the moon permanently.”

The team, tasked with a very interesting theme this year, researched what types of industry could make a city possible in such a remote setting.

While the entire Sayville team was disappointed by the impact of the Pandemic on the usual experience—the trip into Manhattan to compete in person and to see what other schools had been able to accomplish was not possible--they realized even completing the assignment felt like an accomplishment. As it turned out, during this year’s competition, nearly half the competing teams that had registered were unable to overcome the difficulties of working and competing remotely.

Despite everything, the Sayville students were very successful this year, just like past teams. Sayville was able to overcome the collaboration difficulties and take fourth place overall for the region. Mr. Goodman and Mrs. Loscalzo both agreed that not only do their “students have a bright future,” but they were confident that “their current students will be their future leaders.”

Kudos to the following students who participated: Donovan Bartolotta,  McKenna, Broderick, Christian Buono, Angelina Campos, Taylor Carpentieri, Emma Como, Christopher  Costa, Jasmine Evans, Vincent  Fontanetta, Abigail Galaris, Grace Garafola, Lisa Kotkiewicz, Andrew Law, Steven Mercorella, Gioia Racanelli, Maura Reilly, Scarlett Reilly, Kamryn Restivo, Robert Rubino, Andrew Thiakodemitris, Adria Vargas, Jordan Weber, Samuel Wilbert.