Students from Middletown Area Middle School (MAMS) competed this winter in the regional portion of the annual
Future City Competition. Future City is a program of DiscoverE, a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing global resources, programs, and connections between K-12 students and engineers and STEM professionals.
As part of Future City, students use the Engineering Design Process and project management skills to solve a citywide sustainability issue. The challenge for the 2025 competition was “Above the Current.” A team of MAMS seventh graders and a team of eighth graders each
created a floating city to address the issues of rising sea levels and climate change.
Eighth grade team members Joey Berry, Adrik Conrad, Bryce Foose, Callie Kinsey, Zoe Moore, Alex Murchall, Patrick Muller, and Casey Sharp named their floating future city
Ginero; seventh graders Henry Grayshaw, Adam Handwerk, Anthony Rivera Payamps and Pyrce Seltzer chose the city name
Neotoba. Both teams worked under the guidance of Mr. Trevor Davis, MASD gifted support teacher.
As they developed their cities, the students had to imagine what it would be like to walk down the main street of a city 100 years in the future, thinking about sights, sounds, smells and feelings. They then had to design innovative solutions to the issue of coastal changes as well as provide two examples of how their floating cities function while keeping citizens healthy and safe. Photos of the cities are in the gallery below.
The eighth grade team’s city took home the award for Best Construction Techniques. Seventh graders’ city won for Resilience and Overcoming Challenges.
Casey Sharp said the most rewarding part of the competition was the experience of working as a team and improving problem solving and engineering skills. Joey Berry added that seeing their hard work come together the day of the competition was meaningful. All team members agreed it was a fun learning experience.
Thank you to teachers like Mr. Davis who are inspiring the next generation of great scientists and engineers, and for initiatives such as Future City and DiscoverE, who believe in MASD’s mission of equipping students with the knowledge and skills to thrive in a rapidly changing world.
| Pictured with the future city Ginero are MAMS eighth grade Future City team members (left to right) Bryce Foose, Alex Murchall, Adrik Conrad, Casey Sharp, Zoe Moore, Joey Berry, Callie Kinsey, and Patrick Muller. |
| Pictured with the future city Neotoba are MAMS seventh grade Future City team members (left to right) Henry Grayshaw, Pyrce Seltzer, Adam Handwerk, and Anthony Rivera Payamps. |