Each year students in grades 6, 7, and 8 from around the country participate in the Future City Competition. Participants spend four months creating their version of a city that exists 100 years in the future. In the end, teams are judged on their virtual city design, essay explaining the uniqueness of their city, scale model, seven-minute presentation, and project plan.

More than 50 teams from Wisconsin competed in the regional competition last month at the Milwaukee School of Engineering. With mentorship help from five Mortenson team members, three teams from Waukesha STEM Academy participated and took home special awards. This program sparks students’ excitement about science, technology, math, and engineering (STEM) and middle schoolers report improvement in problem-solving, research, speaking, teamwork, and writing skills.