Warwick Middle School Wins 2023 Prestigious Middle School STEM Competition–Future City

WASHINGTON DC February 22, 2023 – Odesa – engineered by students from Warwick Middle School, Lititz, Pennsylvania– has won the Grand Prize at the 31st year of the prestigious international DiscoverE 2023 Future City® Competition. The students – Aaron, Aliyah, Auguste, Axel, Ben C., Ben W., Camryn, Capri, Carly, Carter, Charlie, Cody, Daniel, Henry, Ian, Izzy, Jack M., Jack T., Kayla S., Kayla G., Kensi, Leah B., Leah T., Liam, Lilly, Maya, Norah, Nula, Oliver, Reese, Reid, Reilly, Rivers, Ronan, Sam, Soren, Stephen, Travis, Tristan – teamed with educator Michael Smith as well as volunteer mentor Connor Henry, to earn this year’s top honors.

Since last fall, middle school students in 38 US regions as well as teams from all over the world have imagined, designed, and built cities for DiscoverE’s 2022-2023 Future City® Competition. This year’s theme, Climate Change, challenged students to choose a climate change impact and design one innovative and futuristic climate change adaptation and one mitigation strategy to keep their residents healthy and safe.

Warwick Middle School from the Pennsylvania Central region takes home the Grand Prize of a trip to U.S. Space Camp and $7,500 for its school’s STEM program (provided by Finals sponsor Bentley Systems, Inc.).

Second place went to Lionville Middle School in Exton, Pennsylvania. Representing the Pennsylvania Philadelphia region, Lionville Middle School earned honors for its city Kiyarah city. Their organization receives a $5,000 scholarship for its STEM program, sponsored by Shell.

Teiraki Karawa – engineered by the Texas Houston region’s Al-hadi School of Accelerated Learning in Houston, Texas, took third place honors. Their program receives a $2,000 scholarship for its STEM program, sponsored by Bechtel.

Fourth place went to St. Hugh Catholic School from Coconut Grove, Florida, for their project Imperium Aqua city. Liberatum – engineered by students from West Ridge Middle in Austin, Texas, from the Texas North region took fifth place. Both schools receive $750 for their organization’s STEM programs, sponsored by NCEES (National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying).

Working as a team with an educator and STEM mentor, students present their vision of the future through a 1,500 word city essay; a scale model of their city (built with recycled materials); a project plan to help keep their project on track; a presentation and Q&A session with a panel of judges. Keeping the engineering design process and project management front and center, students are asked to address an authentic, real-world question: How can we make the world a better place?

Future City has ongoing opportunities for engineering and technical professionals to volunteer in several different roles, including team mentors, competition judges, and regional coordinators. For more information about Future City and volunteer opportunities, visit www.futurecity.org.

One of the nation’s leading engineering education programs and among the most popular, Future City is accessible to every student. The Future City competition recognizes the importance of inclusion and emphasizes participation from all students, male and female, all races and ethnicities and all economic levels. Participants come from middle schools, both public and private, can be home-schooled and can also be members of a nationally, regionally, or state-recognized youth-focused organization, such as the Boy and Girl Scouts, Boys and Girls Clubs, or 4-H Clubs. Last year, 48 percent of the students were female, 39 percent of the students were minority, and 43 percent were low-income students from Title I schools, meaning schools which are federally funded based on the number of students at that school who qualify for free or reduced cost lunch.

Students apply Math and Science to real world problems and 85% of students reported that Future City helped them see Math and Science as important to their future.

Major funding for DiscoverE’s Future City Competition comes from the Bechtel Corporation, Bentley Systems Inc., PMIEF, and the Overdeck Family Foundation. Additional program support is provided by Linde Engineering, Pentair Foundation, Shell Energy, and the United Engineering Foundation.

About DiscoverE

DiscoverE is leading a growing volunteer movement that inspires and informs present and future generations to discover engineering. Our network of volunteers in the US and abroad is drawn from the DiscoverE coalition of more than 100 professional societies, major corporations and government agencies. Together we meet a vital need: introducing students, parents, and educators to engineering, engaging them in hands-on engineering experiences and making science and math relevant. For more information, visit www.discovere.org.

For more information on the Future City Competition visit: FutureCity.org or Future City Press Kit

Contacts: Kathy Renzetti, CAE, Executive Director, kathy@DiscoverE.org , 571-467-0354; or Thea Sahr, Deputy Executive Director, thea@DiscoverE.org , 571-467-0356