
Photos by Mike Bleninger
Students at Isanti Middle School take their creative talents to the future in this year’s Future City competition.
The first round of the annual event took place on Oct. 28 in the IMS auditorium. Teams were asked a series of questions during timed sessions with the judges.
The top three teams from IMS will be selected to go to the Regional Competition, on Jan. 21, 2017, at Dunwoody College of Technology in Minneapolis. From there, only one team will be selected to go to the National FCC Finals.
The finals run Feb. 18-22, and are held in Washington D.C. IMS has never had a team advance to the finals, but MNC Science/STEAM Teacher Becky Strand thinks this could be their year.
This year’s theme is “The Power of Public Space.” The teams were asked to create the urban public spaces of the future.

According to their website, the Future City competition has around 40,000 students ranging from 1,350 schools each year. Future City also provides students with ongoing opportunities in engineering and jobs for technical professionals. Check back to the Isanti County News to learn which three teams will be representing IMS in this year’s competition.