Lake Minnetonka 'Future City' Team Flies to D.C. for National Tournament

by Lorrie Ham

Future City team members Jessy Cai, Maddi Bacon, Megan Heins and Brandon Ung, along with their teacher Jennifer Naslund and engineering mentor Sarah Reinhart, spent five days in February on all-expenses-paid trip to Washington, D.C. for the National Future Cities competition. The team placed first at regionals in January and took their model, essay and presentation to D.C. over Presidents Day weekend.

“The trip was a blast,” said Naslund. “The kids had so much fun competing, interacting with kids from around the country, and exploring Washington, D.C.”

At nationals the Grandview team received a special award for the “City of the Future that Best Incorporates Cultural and Historical Resources.” Their city was named Grand City and was built under the Temple of Apollo in Greece. They decided to build their city underground as an effort to preserve the heritage and artifacts on the surface. Their tag line was, “The city of the future built under the foundation of the past.”

“The competition provided the kids a chance to showcase all of their hard work and demonstrate their knowledge of current and cutting edge technologies and engineering concepts,” said Naslund.  During the competition the kids were questioned by specialized engineers in topics ranging from infrastructure systems to nanotechnologies. “They were able to answer each question in an articulate and confident manner,” Naslund added.   

The kids loved having the opportunity to visit with other teams and listen to the creative and innovative ways they designed their cities of the future.

Megan Heins said, “My favorite part was watching the final five teams present their cities.” Maddie Bacon liked “making new friends with the members of my team.”  And Jessy Cai echoed that thought, saying, “I loved bonding with my team members while in D.C.”
 
While in D.C. the group had a chance to visit the White House, the Smithsonian museums, the National Library of Congress, and had a personal tour of the U.S. Capital. 

“A highlight for all of the kids was the chance to see the U.S. Capital,” said Naslund. “Being able to connect what they have learned about in their Social Studies classes to the actual places and documents was incredible.”