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