Students from Queen Margaret’s School in Duncan overcame travel delays and a late start to win top honours at a regional innovation competition in Vancouver earlier this month.
The team captured the top Future Prize at the competition organized by Future Design School, held March 3 at York House School in Vancouver.
Grade 6 students Madeleine Vroom and Evie Kilgour, along with Grade 7 student Maxwell Gergely, travelled with teacher Kd Ramsay to take part in the day-long challenge, which brings together students in Grades 6 to 8 to develop solutions to real-world community issues using entrepreneurial thinking, innovation and technology.
Their trip nearly ended before it began when their early-morning ferry sailing to the Lower Mainland was cancelled. With help from school staff, the group quickly arranged last-minute floatplane flights to Vancouver, arriving about two hours after the event had started.
While travelling, the students joined the competition virtually to continue refining their presentation before eventually arriving in person.
Despite the setback, the Queen Margaret’s team remained focused and competed against 10 teams from five other schools. By the end of the event, the students were named the competition’s Future Prize champions.
Their winning proposal, called Royal Soil, focused on improving how organic waste is sorted and composted. The students proposed combining compostable materials with horse manure to create a nutrient-rich soil blend that could be donated to local community gardens, supporting sustainability and food security efforts.
“The true value of the process lies away from the limelight when nobody is watching, but we are so proud that Madeleine, Maxwell, and Evie’s work was showcased and honoured in this way,” said head of school, Ander Monro, in a release.
The team hopes to continue developing the idea in collaboration with the school’s Senior Eco Club and community partners.
In addition to a trophy and individual medals, the team received a charitable donation made in their name and a year-long design-thinking curriculum resource for their classroom.
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