The Lucerne Valley Virtual Academy first-place winning teams are joined by Joel Greene of Curiosity Quest. Photo courtesy of Mary Eller, the Virtual Academy's elementary school teacher
Two teams from Lucerne Valley USD’s Virtual Academy won first place in their divisions at the annual Mojave Environmental Educational Consortium (MEEC) Maker Fair Sustainable City Competition held on Saturday, December 6 at Piñon Mesa Middle School in Phelan.
The winning teams were the Virtual Academy’s High School team and a younger team comprised of 3rd-5th graders. The 3rd - 5th team members: Jayda Catron - 5th, Hunter Critchlow - 4th, June Critchlow - 3rd, Madelynn Gutierrez - 3rd, and Austin Housler - 3rd. The high school team consists of Allan Housler - 6th, Annabelle Housler - 10th, and Miles Whittaker - 9th.
“I am profoundly impressed by the students’ ingenuity and exceptional hard work,” said Mary Eller, the Virtual Academy’s elementary grades teacher. “Their dedication, creativity and work ethic are all skills that will bring them success in future endeavors. “Their ability to take abstract scientific and engineering principles and manifest them using an entirely recyclable model—complete with lights and moving parts—all while strictly adhering to guidelines from the program's directors, is a true testament to their creativity and problem-solving skills.”
“All of our students worked hard and had excellent presentations,” said 7-12 Virtual Academy teacher Cindy Lazenby. “I am very proud of their accomplishments. The dedication and hard work of my high school team paid off with the well-deserved first-place award.”
DESIGNING FOR A 'FIREWISE FUTURE'
This year’s challenge theme was “Firewise Future: Designing Cities that Stand Against the Flames.” According to the MEEC competition rules and guidelines, the challenge is based on a hypothetical: “As the frequency and intensity of wildfires increases, city planners must rethink how we build and live. Your challenge is to design, construct, and build a 3D model of a wildfire-resilient city—one that keeps people, air, water, and wildlife safe—even in the face of wildfires, drought, and wind-blown smoke.”
“The event coordinator shared how impressed they were with our students' attention to detail and professional presentations that their concepts to build a Firewise city that is prepared for emergencies, incorporates a strategy for managing a wildfire, and even outlines how the community would recover after the fire had passed,” Mrs. Eller said.
See the students demonstrate their award-winning projects.
The competitors’ city will be located “within the urban-wildland interface,” where human development meets or intermingles with natural wildland areas such as forests, shrublands, or grasslands. These cities face unique challenges, particularly increased wildfire risk, due to the close proximity of homes and infrastructure to flammable vegetation.
Making the challenge even more comprehensive, each city should be drought-tolerant, wildfire-resilient, sustainable and realistic for a dry, high desert climate, which receives about 9–12 inches of rain per year, 2–3 inches of snow, and has long, hot, windy summers with very dry conditions. “Your city design and presentation should show how your community stays safe through wildfire preparedness, how it protects people and places during a fire, and how it recovers after the fire is over.”
Besides a model of their city, Virtual Academy team members also presented an Essay, and Oral Presentation and an optional digital component. The model was displayed on a standard 6-foot table and constructed with mostly recycled/reused materials.
The Virtual Academy’s city models addressed the solution to this year’s environmental challenge theme and their designs included zoning, sustainability, low-emission or efficient transportation, water sources, water treatment, waste disposal, recycling, power plans, biodiversity protection, commerce, housing, recreation, geology and pollution prevention.
Working alongside Mrs. Eller is longtime teacher Cindy Lazenby who teaches the Virtual Academy’s Middle/High school students.
