• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Eastwick Press Info
  • Contact Us

The Eastwick Press Newspaper

Eastern Rensselaer County's Community Newspaper

  • Community Calendar
  • School News
  • Sports Outdoors
  • Obituaries
  • Letters & Comments
  • Church Directory

New Lebanon Junior High School Wins Regional Future City Competition

January 30, 2015 By eastwickpress

submitted by Erin Clary, Communications Specialist, NL CSD

In the year 2115, 100,000 people will live in the city of Recolteville (meaning “city of harvest” in French) located on the New York State shoreline of Lake Champlain. The city uses self-sustaining farming techniques to create food, such as kale and fish, for its residents. The majority of the city runs on environmentally friendly fuel cells, and the rest runs on solar power. Residents enjoy the scenic views of the city on a Maglev train and utilize a communication system with hologram technology to bring concerts and sporting events to its entertainment arena.

[private]This is the brainchild of the New Lebanon Junior High School team which took first place at Saturday’s Capital District Future City competition at Proctor’s in Schenectady. The team – consisting of 12 junior high school students and two high school student advisors – scored higher than 24 other teams. They will go on to represent the region in the national competition in Washington, D.C., February 14 to 18.

The New Lebanon team began work in September with their teacher Mary-Beth Liles and engineering mentor Caroline Eigenbrodt from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation to apply Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) skills to design a city of the future.

The city of Recolteville designed by New Lebanon Junior High School students. Photo courtesy of Erin Clary.
The city of Recolteville designed by New Lebanon Junior High School students. Photo courtesy of Erin Clary.

“The Future City competition is STEM education at its best,” said Liles. “These students were knowledgeable, professional and knocked it out of the park!” She added that the experience encourages curiosity in STEM careers.

“Future Cities is fun, and you get to hang out with friends while learning a lot about science and environmental engineering,” said one of the team’s student advisors, Kenny Sheline.

This year’s problem outlined the ways in which growing populations mean less acreage for crops and a greater reliance on fossil fuels to ship foods to populated areas. Teams researched urban farming techniques and sustainable approaches to transportation and communication. They then designed a virtual city using SimCity® software and used math skills to create a scaled 3D model using recycled materials.

Also part of the competition, students wrote a narrative explaining the features of the city. Three team members, Lydia Loverin, Taylor Robertson and Jiana Darcy, presented the team’s model to a panel of judges and nearly 500 audience members.

In addition to winning $1,500 as the first place winner, the team received $100 for the title of “Best Utilization of Transportation” and $100 for “Most Structurally Sound City.” The money will be used to help offset costs for the national competition.

“We put a lot of hard work into this,” said Loverin. “I am excited and nervous, but D.C. is going to be great!”

The New Lebanon team consists of: Jiana Darcy, Tiffany Eggleston, Briana Lee, Lydia Loverin, Taylor Robertson, Catherine Roden, Brianna Shuhart, Emily Schafer, Sydney Smith and Daniel Truax. Student advisors include Kenny Sheline and Christine Bienes.

Congressman Paul Tonko (left) and New York State Assemblyman Angelo Santabarbara take a moment to smile for the camera with the winning team of the regional Future City competition, New Lebanon Junior High School. Photo courtesy of Christine Kingery.
Congressman Paul Tonko (left) and New York State Assemblyman Angelo Santabarbara take a moment to smile for the camera with the winning team of the regional Future City competition, New Lebanon Junior High School. Photo courtesy of Christine Kingery.

[/private]

Filed Under: Front Page, New Lebanon Central School, School News

Primary Sidebar

    News Categories

    Archives

        Footer

        Local News

        Brunswick Town Board Highlights

        by Denise Wright The March 13th Brunswick Town Board meeting was filled with conversation and resulted in the passing of two resolutions. During the Building and Codes report, 25 building property inspections and 22 follow-up complaints were reported for the month of February. The State Uniform Code Administration Compliance Report has been prepared. The historian […]

        March 21st, 2025 Edition

        View this week’s entire newspaper: You must be logged in to view this article.

        Stephentown Board Highlights

        by Denise Wright The Stephentown Board’s St. Patrick’s Day meeting began with a moment of silence to honor former town board member Gerry Robinson. Robinson focused on “improving local service opportunities, protecting Stephentown’s unique rural environment, and increasing local jobs and amenities by encouraging economic development appropriate to the size, atmosphere, and well-being of our […]

        School News

        Berlin School Board Appoints New Superintendent

        Submitted by BCSD Communications The Berlin Central School District Board of Education selected Mr. Kenneth Rizzo to be its next superintendent of schools, effective July 1st. Mr. Rizzo was unanimously appointed by the board at its meeting on March 6th. You must be logged in to view this article.

        Wildcats Compete at the New York State Indoor Track Championships 

        Hoosick Falls CSD Indoor Track Submitted by HFCSD Communications The Wildcats put forth a great effort at the New York State Indoor Track Championships on March 8th. The girls 4×400, consisting of Emma Waugh, Mihaly Blake, Ava Salvsevold, and Erin Conety, had a huge upset in their race. Going in as the underdogs, the girls […]

        Winter Scholar Athletes and Varsity Teams

        Brunswick CSD Submitted by Brunswick CSD Communications Brunswick CSD is proud to announce its winter Scholar Athlete sports teams for the 2024-2025 season. The school fielded seven varsity teams, including Girls Basketball, Boys Basketball, Boys Wrestling, Competitive Cheerleading, Unified Bowling, Boys Indoor Track, and Girls Indoor Track. In addition to the exciting lineup of winter […]

        Copyright © Eastwick Press · All Rights Reserved · Site by Brainspiral Technologies