North Augusta Middle School students headed to D.C.

Celebrating their first-place finish at the Future City regional meet Saturday are North Augusta Middle School "Jasaka" team members, from left, Sarah Larabee, Julie Spieker and Kirstyn Denney, along with their volunteer mentor, Mike Cercy. (Staff photo by Rob Novit)

North Augusta Middle School seventh-graders Sarah Larabee, Kirstyn Denney and Julia Spieker were already friends but grew even closer while working on a "Future City" project as team "Jasaka." Now they're sharing a championship.

They hugged and shed a few tears and laughed with joy at the Future City regional competition at USC Aiken Saturday, taking first place and qualifying for an all-expense-paid trip to the national event in Washington, D.C., next month.

"We all contributed to every part of our presentation," Kirstyn said afterward. "We wanted to work together, and we helped each other out."

Future City is a national program that encourages middle school students to design and build a city of tomorrow. Paul Knox Middle School's "Viitor" squad of Joey Baldwin, Zach Bradley and Mary Beth Cooper took second place.

Third place went to Blythewood Middle School and its "Covetina" team of Blaire Brooks, Alyssa Ursprung and Rachael McGahee.

Serving as hosts for the event were Savannah River Nuclear Solutions and the Ruth Patrick Science Education Center. SRNS executive vice president Jack Sependa served as the announcer for the finals and clearly enjoyed himself. The new company took over management operations at the Savannah River Site last August.

"We wanted to make a difference in the community," Sependa said. "Most of our senior executive team have grabbed a piece of the community and claimed it."

He spent about an hour looking at the water resource-themed projects submitted by 27 teams from 13 schools. With his science and engineering background, Sependa was delighted how the children lit up when he approached and told him about their research and their cities of the future.

"It's a bit humbling," he said. "I heard quite a bit of new ideas in the young minds of these kids, which is necessary for the future of the nation. The big thing is computerization. If you look at the kids' ability to use computers and multitask, it's clear that industries will have to change the way they do business. We have to allow these kids as they grow up to use their talents in a different way."

B.R. Smith, the North Augusta Middle school teacher/coach, said the winning students have such a positive attitude and are willing to work hard and to compromise. The school fielded five teams and the other four were cheering "Jasaka" on at the finish.

"All the kids have been there till seven at night and on weekends," Smith said. "During the day, they came to my room on breaks and brought their lunch. They're totally dedicated, and that's what it takes."

Twelve special sponsored awards also were presented during the regionals. The Aiken County winners included NAMS' "Aquaville" for best essay; NAMS' "Aquatranopolis" for best model; Paul Knox's "Viitor" for excellence in futuristic concepts; PKMS' "Zuiver el Aqua" for best integration of engineered systems; PKMS' "Agualimpio" for most energy-efficient design; and Kennedy Middle School's "Dynasty" for best use of innovative construction materials and techniques.

Serving as special award sponsors were the Greater Aiken area chapters of American Society for Engineering Management, Institution of Electronic & Electrical Engineers, Project Management Institute, American Nuclear Society, Association for Advancement of Cost Engineering International, American Institute of Chemical Engineers, American Society of Mechanical Engineers, SRS Chapter 773 National Management Association (two awards), Instrumentation, Systems and Automation, SRNS and American Concrete Institute.

Contact Rob Novit at rnovit@aikenstandard.com.

The remaining team members from Aiken County schools are as follows, with Paul Knox, NAMS and New Ellenton Middle School's multiple squads listed collectively -- Aiken Christian (Moriah Melvin, Blase Mancine and Logan Fannings); Aiken Middle School (Rhett Barnard, Brandon Bolton and Dustin Snellings); Kennedy Middle (Preston Barr, Kyle Brown, Chandler Rikard and Philip Broughton); New Ellenton (Jesse Eisenman, Darius Washington, Mathew Muzall, Austin Williams, Ben Hepner and Kelly Key); NAMS (Nicole Fuller, Destenie Hensley, Payton Lord, Avery Tyrrell, Amber Flicek, Michaela Treadway, Ben Phifer, Eric White, John Gillespie, Austin Ferguson, Forrest Whitfield and Bryson Conner); Paul Knox (Ansley Hiatt, John Monahan, Alex Ward, Ricky Baldwin, Zack Rogers, Emsley Snyder, Zoe Rogers and Bronwyn Bigger).