St. Mary’s School Swormville won the National Engineers Week Future City Competition held at Mount St. Mary High School on January 21. The team will represent the region in the National Competition in Washington D.C. in February. This is the fourth consecutive win for St. Mary’s School. St. Mary’s competed against 23 public and private schools from Buffalo to Corning.
Future City is designed to inspire innovation in youth, while encouraging them to pursue careers in engineering, math or science.The team, comprised of seventh and eighth graders, created Iles de la Paix, which means "Island of Peace" in French. St. Mary’s also received a special award for Best Bridge Design.
Third place went to St. Christopher’s (Tonawanda) team; they also were given the Energy Efficiency Award. Fourth place went to Immaculate Conception School (East Aurora). St. Francis of Assisi (Tonawanda) received fifth place and Unique Computer Model Design. The Distinguished Service Awards were given to their teacher mentor, Patricia Misso and engineer mentor, Mark Bajorek.
“Our students’ strong foundation and knowledge of math, science and verbal skills set the team apart,” Sister Sheila Anne Burke, principal, St. Mary’s School, said. “We are extremely proud of their efforts and salute them for their hard work and dedication.”
The team was judged on an essay, city narrative, computer simulation, physical model and presentation. All team members participated in special awards judging and were visited at their model by professional engineers from dozens of area companies.
Members of the Future City team are Jeff Britton, Cassandra Girzone, Jesse Hooton, Amanda McNulty, Tom O'Brien, Ben Pohle, Caitlin Quinn, James Roetzer, Sarah Siska, Matt Telford, Doug Urban and Ben Wojick. Advisors are Matt Wojick and James Riester. Robin Closs from RJR Engineering serves as engineer mentor.
The team will represent the Western New York region at the Future City National Competition in Washington, DC next month. In addition, Amanda McNulty received the Mount St. Mary Scholarship Award presented to a seventh grade girl who demonstrates promise in science and math.
St. Peter School’s (Lewiston) team received the Unique Engineering Design Award. Most Innovative Transportation System was awarded to St. Mark’s School (North Buffalo). The students from DeSales Regional School (Lockport) went home with the Spirit Award and St. Leo the Great’s team (Amherst) received the Students’ Choice Award. SS Peter & Paul School (Hamburg) received an Honorable Mention Award. Nativity of Our Lord School (Orchard Park) also had two teams competing.