Eleven of the eighteen schools participating in the annual Future City Competition for middle school students are Catholic schools in Western New York.  The competition will be held on Saturday, Jan. 24, at Mount St. Mary High School, 3756 Delaware Ave., Kenmore, from 9 a.m. - 4 p.m.

Student teams consist of 6th-, 7th- and 8th-graders who complete each of the five competition components -- a virtual city designed using the latest SimCity software; a 1,000-word essay on the solution to the feeding future cities challenge; a city narrative that explains the city in only 500 words; a model of the city, built to scale and with a budget of $100, that contains mainly recycled materials and at least one moving part; and a seven-minute presentation to the judges.

Participating Catholic schools are Southtowns Catholic, Lake View; SS. Peter & Paul, Hamburg; St. Mary, Lancaster; Nativity of Our Lord, Orchard Park; St. Christopher, Tonawanda; St. Peter, Lewiston; St. Mary, Swormville; Immaculate Conception, East Aurora; Christ the King, Snyder; Queen of Heaven, West Seneca; and DeSales Catholic, Lockport.

Seventeen awards will be presented including the Western New York regional first place winner which includes a trip for three students, a teacher and mentor to Washington, D.C., to compete in the national finals.  The winning team also will receive a team trophy and plaque, as well as $1,250.  Other awards include the most unique engineering design, pollution prevention award, energy efficiency award and most sustainable food source award.

The day begins with registration at 8 a.m. followed by the opening ceremony, in the school's theater, at 9 a.m.  Preliminary judging will be held from 9:30 a.m. until noon; final judging begins at 1:30 p.m.  Teams also will meet with judges for the special awards.  Awards will be announced beginning at 3:45.