Future City

Syringa Middle School science students took Boise by "storm" Saturday when they competed in the 9th Annual Future City Engineering Competition   Their futuristic city, Ninja Aquatropolis, tackled the problem of storm water runoff using innovations like green roofs, porous pavement, voraxial separators and UV lights while developing renewable and green energy resources like biomass, wind and tidal power.  With the help of Caldwell School District graduate Jarom Wagoner, a city planner who works for Ada County Highway District, the advanced 8th grade science class completed a virtual city model using SIM City software and wrote an essay on storm water runoff solutions this fall.  After Winter Break, they created a 3-D scale model of their city and prepared an oral presentation which they shared with judging panels made up of local engineers and city officials.  After three hours of intensive interviews and questioning from experts, Syringa's team was awarded "Best New Team" by the competition organizers and the "Most Sustainable LEED Buildings Award" by Power Engineers of Boise.  Melyssa Ferro, their teacher and adviser is very proud of the many hours and the hard work that the nine students who attended the competition with her put into this hands-on STEM project-based learning activity.  She hopes to enter next year's 8th graders in the 10th Annual Competition.

Pictured from left to right: Mari Transtrum, Ally Cameron, Zach Schirado, Lupita Garcia, Hannah Webster, Maria Barajas, Caiti (Bob) Worwood, and Natalie Campbell.  

Not Pictured: Cece Hernandez