Post last updated at 7:32 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 23:
A group of Free State High School students have taken second place and won a $25,000 prize in a contest to envision a new exhibit at Science City.
The Battle of the Brains competition, hosted by Burns & McDonnell, received more than 740 entries from the Kansas City area. Ideas from students of Free State and Hillcrest Elementary were selected among the top 10 in secondary and elementary entries, respectively.
Winners were announced Tuesday during an awards ceremony at Union Station.
The Free State High School team includes Adele Buren, Niko Eidemiller, Harper Finck, Isla Gnojek, Chloe Hannings, Zach Hansen Terry, Ethan Hart, Emmett Henry, Brendan Hethcoat, Ben Jackson, Connor MacFarland, Hope Northrop, Gillian Sellet and Sejun Yun.
They worked under the guidance of gifted education teacher Jeff Morrison on their entry, “Nature’s Blueprint: A World of Animal Architects.”
“The exhibit would focus on the science and design of beastly builders; everything from the famed intricacies of termite mounds to the woody work of a beaver,” the students wrote.
“Visitors will be astounded at curling complexities of spider webs, and marvel at colorful coral polyps. Sustainability is integral to the way we live our lives, and by incorporating elements of biomimicry, architects and engineers have found the best way to save our Earth may be to take a few pages out of its book,” the pitch continues.
Morrison said the students did an amazing job on their proposal, and each capitalized on their own areas of strength, whether in writing, art, public speaking, digital design and beyond.
“It was great to watch the kids gel into a team–or maybe a family, over the course of the project,” Morrison said via email after arriving back in Lawrence Tuesday afternoon. “Many of the students see a STEM career in their future and the prize money will allow us to open up new opportunities and skills.”
Morrison said he’s lucky to have the chance to work with fantastic students at Free State — those on the Battle of the Brains team and others.
“I just try to clear a path to allow them all to pursue their passions and ideas,” he said. “Each day is a new adventure in our room and it’s always amazing to see the things they can do.”
Here’s the the team’s full exhibit pitch:
Hillcrest Elementary’s team of fourth graders Anna Lawrence, Milo Henry, Nora Mosher, Margot Langford, Owen Williams and Corrina Yi, under the direction of gifted education teacher Sarabeth Morgan, planned an exhibit called “Celestial Stops!”
“In this exhibit, you’ll learn about all sorts of celestial bodies, including galaxies, stars, planets, black holes, and more. Explore the whole universe from Science City – no astronaut suit needed!” the students wrote.
The first-place winner was Delta Woods Middle School in the Blue Springs school district for their project, “ElectroMAGNIFICENT.” The team wins a $50,000 prize, and their idea will be brought to life in a Science City exhibit.
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Note: This post has been updated to add a student’s name.
Mackenzie Clark (she/her), reporter/founder of The Lawrence Times, can be reached at mclark (at) lawrencekstimes (dot) com. Read more of her work for the Times here. Check out her staff bio here.
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