The Tabernacle school district board of education held a special meeting on Feb. 22 to acknowledge recent students of the month and the creativity of seventh graders in “Future Cities” projects.
Board members, parents, teachers and residents at the session saw the “cities” designed by the young students in a project that requires them to write a 1,500 word essay, complete a project plan, create a presentation and film it, build a model of their cities and prepare for a Q&A session with judges at a Rutgers University competition.
COVID complicated the “Future Cities’ project this year, but the students overcame that in designing cities with names like Penn City, Glacier City and the City of Moeuhane. In an address read to students at the meeting, STEM teacher Heather Petersack explained what they had accomplished.
“They were tasked with designing a waste-free city that uses the principles of a circular economy 100 years into the future,” she noted. “Students had to figure out a way to design out waste and pollution, keep products and materials in use and regenerate natural systems.”
“It is not only about the deliveries that the students have to submit,” Petersack’s statement added, “but it is about the team work, overcoming challenges and team management, to name a few, that the students experience firsthand what makes this competition worth it.”
The students who designed Penn City – Mia Barnett, Nadia Strobl and Dani Winters – won third place in the competition, which earned a $1,250 STEM grant for the district and an Amazon gift card for the kids. In their Penn City, buildings included Penn Plasma and even a town hall.
After the students were acknowledged, they heard roaring applause from the board, families and friends, and kudos from school Superintendent Shaun Banin.
“Whether or not you actually got to compete in the contest or not, it was amazing to see the teamwork come together to create what you did,” he said. “So great job to all of you.”
The meeting continued with Banin citing district students of the month from each grade.
The next board of education meeting will take place on March 21, at 6:30 p.m., in the den at Kenneth R. Olson Middle School.
