Resident Helps Kids Design Solution to Storm Water Pollution

A Wayne resident has helped design a new way of cleaning up storm water pollution.

Judith Vihonski, a teacher at Valley Middle School in Oakland, and her team won the annual Future City Competition earlier this month. The National Engineers Week Foundation sponsors the nation-wide competition.

Teams had to design an environmental-friendly way to manage storm water by designing and creating a working table-top model of the system. They also had a to write an essay. 

Thirty-six teams participated in the competition. Participation was voluntary. Students put in hundreds of hours on the project. Students had to present their idea on stage in front of judges and 1,000 people.

"It's just phenomenal how much time went into it," Vihonski said. "They knew so much as they went through every aspect of the project. There's a lot to it but it was a combination of learning."

The winners receive a trip to U.S. Space Camp in Alabama.

“This was the biggest project any of us have ever attempted and it required constant problem solving and innovating,” said Anna Butler, one of the three students on the winning team. “We learned to never settle for less than the best and to keep improving as we went along.”

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