Today, team finalists taking part in the Vision 2030 project presented their projects to a panel of judges with the top three teams announced. Vision 2030 is a project based learning experience that was launched in January as a collaborative effort between the city of Bismarck, the North Dakota Department of Transportation (NDDOT) and Bismarck Public Schools.
Over 250 students participated in the program over the course of 10 weeks. During their work, students put together what their future community might look like by taking into consideration where people live, where they shop, where people gather, services needed, transportation and utilities. The top six teams presented their work in front of a panel of five judges today. The judges were Bismarck City Commissioner Shawn Oban, City Engineer Gabe Schell, Carl Hokenstad, City Community Development Director, Ben Ehreth, transportation planner, NDDOT, and Linda Sitz, strategic innovation manager at NDDOT. Judging criteria included organization, content, creativity, critical thinking, explanation and presentation of ideas and information, multimedia presentation and response to panel questions.
Mayor Mike Seminary, Bismarck City Commissioner Shawn Oban, and NDDOT Director Tom Sorel presented certificates and awards to the participating students.
The top three teams from Horizon Middle School are:
1st place, “World Wide Wonders”. Students included Andy Hendrickson, Grace Rosten, Hannah Dorrheim and Danni Dennis.
2nd place, “Fab 6” team. Students included Elleana Herner, Erika Lee, Noah Hugert, Brooklyn Mallard, Carlee Myerchin, Reese Turner.
3rd Place, “Chargerz” team. Students included Michael Twardowski, Drew Nodland, Ethan Glanville, Jack Holen.
Winning High School students from the Bismarck Career Academy included: Dylan Strand and Mitchell Walby, Bismarck High School. Jackson Brown, Adam Foerderer, Samuel Honeyman, Trey Jahner, Alyssa Jensen and Casey Stewart, Century High School and Laken Bischof, Christopher Krein, Johnathan Mutch and Tanner Nagel, Legacy High School.
“Six teams competed against 36 to get here today. This is a starting point,” said Mayor Seminary. “2030 is only 12 years away. Our kids, the next generation – need to let us know what is important to them. They’re taking this place over and what they tell us is profoundly important. It matters.” Seminary said what he found most impressive about the kids was their heart – for soft infrastructure and such concerns as the homeless or other forms of disadvantage. They want to make sure that things are fair for everyone. “It was a truly remarkable day. We have a bright future ahead.”