Team Center

Program Overview

Future City - North Texas

The detailed schedule for NTX region will be maintained on this site: NTX schedule. Refer to it for detailed schedule information for the North Texas Regional Future City Competition and acceptable dates for all the required deliverables. The schedule on the Educator Dashboard is for reference only. In case of discrepancy, the NTX schedule linked above takes precedence.

The Middle School Competition deliverables include:
- Research essay
- Physical model
- Project Plan
- Presentation
- City Q&A

Enrollment

Schools and youth organizations with 6th-7th grade students may register by 31 October by completing the middle school National Future City Competition online enrollment form.

Registration fee is $25 per school or organization.

2026-2027 Future City Competition Theme: FIRE RESILIENT FUTURE

Design a resilient future city that can prevent, protect, and recover from urban wildfires

This component will describe the team’s solution to the annual challenge. Students write a 1,500 word essay that introduces their city and provides a solution to this year’s challenge

Essay

Physical Model

Students build a physical scale model of a section of their city using recycled materials. This is the opportunity for the team to realize their vision of the city and see their ideas for the future come to life. This includes a completed Expense Form.

A group of up to 3 students will creatively present to a panel of judges. They will explain how they addressed the challenge and designed their city.

At the end of the presentation, judges will ask questions to challenge the students to think beyond their design and real life application.

Presentation /
Q&A

Project Plan

Students work with their team to complete a four-part project plan to help them stay organized, focused, and on schedule as they complete their other Future City Project Deliverables.

Note: Each part has a different deadline.

Judging

• Deliverables will be judged by multiple judges and the scores for each averaged then added together to come up with a composite/total score for each team.

• The essay will be judged during December-January.

• The project plan parts will be reviewed in January by the Coordination Committee.

• Model, presentation and Q&A judging will take place on-site at the NTX Regional Competition in Fort Worth, Texas.

  • Throughout the day students will be assigned a time to present to a panel of at least 3 judges.

    • Judges will ask questions at the end of each presentation.

  • A special session of special award judges will ask students questions based on specific criteria.

  • After lunch, the teams with the highest 5 scores will present to a large audience.

    • VIP judges will re-judge models, presentations and ask questions to select the top 3 teams.

Awards Ceremony and Announcement of Winners

• The results of the NTX Future City Competition will be announced during the Awards Ceremony.

• Scores for individual teams and deliverables will be available for educators following the announcements.

  Prizes:

  • Future City Competition will provide prizes for:

    • First Place

    • Second Place

    • Third Place

    • Best Essay

    • Best Model

  • Sponsors will also give out Special Awards recognizing accomplishments in various categories, such as: Green City, Energy Efficiency, etc.

FIRST PLACE: AGROVENA - WEST RIDGE MIDDLE SCHOOL

SECOND PLACE: INTERSTELLAR CITY - NELSON MIDDLE SCHOOL

THIRD PLACE: A COLMEIA - KENNEDALE JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL

A COLMEIA - KENNEDALE JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL

AGROVENA - WEST RIDGE MIDDLE SCHOOL

INTERSTELLAR CITY - NELSON MIDDLE SCHOOL

2026 SPECIAL AWARD WINNERS:

Download PDF of the slide deck here.

2026 MIDDLE SCHOOL COMPETITION WINNER