JerseySTEM's maker club take 6th in state Future City event

JerseySTEM’s 6th grade girls from Chatham take 6th out of 60 teams in Future City Stem

Among the 60+ teams competing in this years’ Regional Future City competition, a trio of newcomers from Chatham NJ turned heads when they took 6th place overall. Competition includes the development of a SIMCity, design and creation of true-to-scale city model using primarily recyclable materials, a detailed report and presentation to a panel of judges.

Caitlyn Johnston, Mayuri Purani and Desi Tarhanidis were thrilled to place and take home valuable prizes. Making this placement an additional accomplishment, the girls were one of only a handful of 6th graders in the competition among 7th and 8th grade teams within their school programs. The team was led by teacher-mentor Judith Vihonski for bi-weekly in-person sessions at Gerhart Law (kind contributor of space for our organization). Volunteers Carol Walczyk, PE, PMP, a Chatham resident and Vice President at Hatch Mott MacDonald, a global engineering company, Jennifer D’Emilio, LEED AP, a Chatham Resident working as a Facility Engineer managing construction projects for the department within Celgene, a Summit based global Pharmaceutical company, and Allison Manzo (New Jersey Institute of Technology Junior) were available to mentor and address specifics related to the engineering and coding aspects of their work. The program itself has been brought to the region by JerseySTEM, a local network of parents volunteers and educators promoting STEM in local communities in Northern New Jersey.

Future City is a cross-curricular program that lets students in the 6th, 7th, and 8th grades do the things engineers do: identify problems, brainstorm ideas, design solutions, test and retest, build and then share the results. The program increases their motivation and excitement about STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math). In addition, students and teachers report a marked improvement in students’ 21st Century skills.

Take advantage of the different JerseySTEM programs available in town Go to program.jerseystem.org

A sampling of the great programs offered through JerseySTEM including: Girls who code, Robotics, Junior Solar Sprint, Math Club, Minecraft Adventures and many others.
Parents and STEM Professionals are invited to volunteer with JerseySTEM by mentoring, coaching or organizing programs for the youth in the community. 2 hours/week for 8 weeks is often all that is needed. You can contact JerseySTEM at stem@jerseystem.org.