Tag Archive for FutureCities

July 19 – Aspiring Mentors: Sign up for the Future City Info Webinar

Future City regional winner Queen of Angels Regional Catholic School

Photo: 2018 Future City Regional Winner: Queen of Angels Regional Catholic School, Source: futurecityphilly.org

Please tune into our webinar on July 19 from 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. if you are interested in becoming a Future City mentor for the 2018-2019 school year at one of your local schools. Mike McAtee, the Future City Philadelphia Mentor Coordinator, will give a presentation and take participants’ questions at the end.

The Future City program offers a variety of volunteer opportunities to get involved with students in your local community. This webinar will help you understand if you are ready to be a mentor, judge, or a general volunteer for the 2019 Future City Philadelphia Regional Competition.

The Philadelphia Regional Future City Competition is a 501 (c)3 educational outreach program of DiscoverE. It is one of 41 regional programs conducted throughout the country. Future City is an inspiring program that helps introduce 6th, 7th, and 8th grade students to the engineering, architecture, and planning professions. Participating STEM teams across the country compete once a year in a regional competition in January. Finalists then proceed to present their projects at the National Competition during National Engineers Week in February in Washington, D.C.

The competition requires participating teams from schools and youth-focused organizations (e.g., Boy or Girl Scouts, Boys and Girls Clubs, 4-H, YMCA STEM clubs) to create their own future city, based on project criteria and guidelines for that year. Students are encouraged to prepare a variety of deliverables, including a project plan, tabletop-scale model, and virtual city, under the supervision and assistance of a teacher and mentor. Mentors should be professionals in the fields of engineering, planning, and architecture interested in investing time and energy in helping students realize their projects. For more information visit: http://futurecityphilly.org/.

Sign up at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/future-city-mentor-info-webinar-tickets-47650342457. Registrants through Eventbrite will be emailed webinar log in information to their registration email. We look forward to your participation!

CM Credits for Pro Bono Planning Service

AICP members can obtain up to eight CM Credits for Pro Bono Planning Service, including volunteering time with the APA PA SE Council or a committee as outlined on the APA National website at https://www.planning.org/cm/logging/selfreport/probono.

Future City Mentors Needed – One Month until Competition Day

Downingtown Middle School – Honorable Mention at the 2017 Future City Philadelphia Regional Competition (Source: futurecityphilly.org)

If you’ve been looking for a way to give back this holiday season, become a Future City mentor for a school in your community. 10 Future City Philadelphia teams still need mentors, and the students could really use your support in the final days leading up to the regional competition. Students must prepare a model of an “Age-Friendly City” to present in front of a panel of judges on Saturday, January 20, 2018.

As a planner, you can provide meaningful feedback and assistance as the students creatively tackle this topic.

The following 10 middle schools need mentors:

  • Eisenhower – Norristown
  • Keith Valley – Horsham
  • Mother Teresa – King of Prussia
  • Murray Avenue – Huntingdon Valley
  • St Albert the Great – Huntingdon Valley
  • St Elizabeth – Uwchlan
  • Helena – Blue Bell
  • Ignatius – Yardley
  • WCPA Homeschool Group – Pleasant Mount
  • Windsor Christian Academy – Uwchlan

Sign up to mentor one of these teams here.

Check out our latest post for a refresher on the Philadelphia Regional Future City Competition.

CM Credits for Pro Bono Planning Service

AICP members can obtain up to eight CM Credits for Pro Bono Planning Service, as outlined on the APA National website at https://www.planning.org/cm/logging/selfreport/probono

APA Future City Mentorship could relate to these allowed activities:

  • Planning-related support to groups that lack adequate planning resources, including service that expands choices and opportunities for everyone.
  • Planning to meet the needs of the disadvantaged and to promote racial and economic integration.
  • Mentoring the development of students, interns, beginning professionals, colleagues, and members of underrepresented groups to help them advance in the planning profession.

 

2017 Philadelphia Future City Competition Points to a Bright Future

Regional Winner: Lionville Middle School Source: futurecityphilly.org

If it’s true what they say, ‘children are our future,’ then we have some very smart cities to look forward to! On Saturday January 21, thirty-six middle schools from southeastern Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey, and Delaware competed in the 2017 Philadelphia Future City Competition held at Archbishop John Carroll High School in Radnor.

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