Valley Middle Schoolers Build 'City of the Future,' Will Defend National Title in DC

Students from Oakland's Valley Middle School will represent New Jersey for the 14th time at the Future City Nationals in Washington, D.C., next month, the Oakland Journal reported. 

The team from Valley Middle School will defend the national championship it won last year by showing off its creativity in creating a city of the future. The local students will compete against more than 400 other students.

Eighth graders Adam Akovity, Nigel DaSilva and Christopher Leymeister took the crown and qualified for the championships Jan. 18 at Rutgers University. They reportedly wowed the judges with the New Zealand city creation, Whenua Aotearoa. 

Their city is the historical and engineering epicenter of New Zealand, where residents and visitors can explore nature’s picturesque scenery, participate in adrenaline sports or relax in a volcanic spring. To ensure health and safety, residents wear Safety and Health Information Bracelets, which record pulse, body temperature, blood pressure, and other vitals. The cross-city Super Conducting Vacuum Trains, Surface Skimmer integrated ferries and electric buses are all eco-friendly and efficient transportation innovations in the city. Their Safety Scout technology ensures that there are no vehicular collisions. In addition, engineers have created a unique Manure-To-Methane system that collects and processes animal waste and turns it into methane that drives fuel cells to generate clean electric power.

Led by their teacher, Judith Vihonski, and engineer mentor, Robert Akovity, students learned the basics of city planning and management as they designed a virtual city using SimCity software. This year’s theme, Tomorrow’s Transit: Design a Way to Move People in and Around Your City, asked them to review the transportation options and needs of their own city and create viable ideas that considered safety, accessibility, intermodality and sustainability in an effort to reimagine a better and more efficient city. The students wrote an accompanying  research essay that delved deeper into a citywide issue. From there, each team built a physical model of their city using recycled materials costing no more than $100. Teams were judged on their presentation, virtual city design, physical model, research essay and city narrative.

Valley’s second regional entry, Neo Diamanti, created by Dónal Gannon, Joseph Cruciata, and Anthony Mazzilli was honored with a special award.   

More than 40,000 students from 1,350 middle schools participated nationwide in the regional competitions. The winning team from each qualifying regional competition will compete at the Future City National Finals at the Hyatt Regency Capitol Hill in D. C. from Feb. Feb. 15-18.