Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) announced the winners of its third United We Learn contest during the Board of Education’s April 9 business meeting.
Winners were announced at the elementary, middle and high school levels.
The district launched the contest in 2017 with the goal of providing students with a creative, structured opportunity to explore topical issues and learn about the values of respect, diversity and civility. This year’s theme, Schools of the Future, challenged students to design their dream classroom and think critically about how their physical environment affects their ability to learn.
The contest follows a November 2018 survey that asked students and staff about how they use learning spaces at their schools, and what they would like classrooms and schools to look like in the future. Recurring elements mentioned in the survey included considerations regarding color, lighting, furniture, technology and security. The contest tasked students to consider those same elements as they designed their vision of what an ideal learning space looks like.
The contest was open to students from all grade levels. Submissions, which were judged by level, were created by groups of two to five students. Judging partners included Meridian Construction Co., Inc., Hess, Smolen Emr Ilkovitch Architects (SEI), Moseley Architects, Lendlease, Samaha, Oak Contracting, and Keller Construction.
In addition to first place, second place, third place and honorable mentions, this year’s contest features a director’s pick. Seth Adams, director of the Division of Construction, viewed submissions and selected the entry that he felt best embodied the district’s core values, demonstrated empathy and an understanding of equity, and considered the needs of all students.
This year’s winners are:
Elementary
First place
Shahwaar Rajput, Sherlyn Zhu, Aislin Deng, Emay Liu, Emma Toothaker
Travilah Elementary School
Second place
Marcus Pearson, Claire Mowery, Gianpreet Ivit, Nathan Mason
Wilson Wims Elementary School
Third place
Sarayu Penchala, Lily Pratt, Colette Shuman-Powell, Ria Kumar
Travilah Elementary School
Honorable Mention
Jayden Probst, El Hadji Drame, Ingbert Calles Del Cid, Carlos Medrano Matamoros, Osmin Diaz
JoAnn Leleck Elementary School at Broad Acres
Ava Vicens, Nathan Yu, Shreeya Mekala, Arjun Srikant, Himani Kura
Wilson Wims Elementary School
Livia Klein, Ada Levner
Ashburton Elementary School
Tenley Higgs, Alyssa Corbin, Audrey Caulder, Brianna Yan, Keira Mooney
Travilah Elementary School
Middle School
First place
Claire Stanton, Christina Pan, Athena Stayeas
Silver Creek Middle School
Second place
Mariam Kupatadze, Saachi Shrivastava
Westland Middle School
Third place
Kris Jarazi, Shayna Strong Jacobson, Andrea Nedelkovska
Westland Middle School
Honorable Mention
Birce Onal, first grade; Beril Gunduzhan, fifth grade; Gokce Onal, sixth grade; Irem Gunduzhan,
Wyngate Elementary School, North Bethesda Middle School
Elizabeth Soopper, Zoe Edwards, Briana Jacobs
Silver Creek Middle School
Nathaniel Schrader, Ting Li, Julia Gelfond
Silver Creek Middle School
High School
First place
Karen Boby, Divya Bhat, Mihika Panicker
Northwest High School
Second Place
Ethan Frazier, Colin Hill, Joe Diuguid
Sherwood High School
Third Place
Carter Szwec, Chris Padilla, Trevor McCormick
Sherwood High School
Honorable Mention
Justin Wong, Avery Gledhill
Sherwood High School
Erik Calderon, Aaron Delacruz, Seungjoon Lee
Sherwood High School
Sofia Grossman, Erin Carmody
Sherwood High School
Director’s Pick
Jayden Probst, El Hadji Drame, Ingbert Calles Del Cid, Carlos Medrano Matamoros, Osmin Diaz
JoAnn Leleck Elementary School at Broad Acres
