Obama meets Turkish school’s award-winning students

Date posted: October 21, 2010

Four students from the Pinnacle Academy, established by Turkish entrepreneurs in the greater Washington, D.C., area, were at the White House on Monday to present their project, which took first place in the National Engineers Week Future City Competition in the capital’s metropolitan area in February.

On Monday President Barack Obama hosted the White House Science Fair to honor the winners of a series of competitions in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

At the fair, Obama viewed winning student projects and took the time to congratulate the students on their hard work and stressed the importance of technology and engineering in middle school education.

Eighth grade students Zehra Yılmaz, Selin Altıntaş, Nurbanu Şimşek and Madina Khurishanova from the Pinnacle Academy in Oakton, Virginia, represented Washington, D.C., at the 2010 Future City Competition National Finals. The team developed a digital and three-dimensional model of Yeshilist, an imaginary city that anticipates the accommodation needs of citizens who lose their homes during an earthquake. “Yeshilist has solar panel roofs, wind-powered community centers, cork brick homes and cable trains made of Lego pieces that are scattered around the city. The National Engineers’ Week Future City Competition promotes engineering as a creative profession by challenging middle school students to design their vision of the city of tomorrow through computer simulation and a three-dimensional model.

Principal of the school Mustafa Akpınar said the Pinnacle Academy’s presence at such an important event is an honor for the students and the school. “This event highlights how the Pinnacle Academy is succeeding in our goal to provide a quality education that emphasizes math, science and technology. As an educational community, the Pinnacle Academy hopes to build upon these successes,” he said.