Batavia Middle School students are planning for the future and had an opportunity to showcase their ideas during The National Engineers Week Future City Competition at COSI, in Columbus, on Jan. 17.

The eighth grade students in Mary Bradburn’s language arts class placed third in the state competition and received three additional special awards.

“The middle school students who participated created cities of the future, first on computer and then in large tabletop models,” said Bradburn. “They created their city by using the SimCity video game software. They researched and wrote a city abstract and an essay on using engineering concepts to solve an important social need. This year’s essay asked students to create a self-sufficient water system within the home which conserves, recycles and reuses all existing water sources.”