The Erie Canal will still be operating two centuries from now, but forget about mules on towpaths.
Robots will be operating the canal by the time it turns 400 years old.
That, at least, is the vision of Aiden Olejarczyk and Miles Rhymestine, fourth graders from Herkimer Elementary School, who communicated that vision in the form of an Erie Canal brochure to enter the Erie Canal 200 Years from Now Contest.
The contest, sponsored by GEMS Along the Mohawk and Herkimer Diamond Mines KOA Resort in Herkimer, was open to elementary students from the Herkimer, Central Valley and Frankfort-Schuyler school districts. Students could submit their vision of the canal’s future in a poster, a poem, a pamphlet, prose or whatever product they picked.
“We just think (robots) are going to run it,” Miles said in a statement.
He and Aiden got the idea after thinking about how building robots has become more common, they said.
The boys received the contest prize for their school at Herkimer Marina Days on Oct. 10, an event held as part of the celebration of the canal’s bicentennial this year. Winners were also selected from the other two schools that participated in the contest.
About the contest
The winning team for Frankfort-Schuyler included Joella Jones, Mariana Chmut, Santina Napoli, Sydney Sydoriw and Myla Thrasher who made a poster.
And for Central Valley, the winning team was made up of Leanna Hepner, Emma Everson, Novalee Trevett and Laney McAllister, all fourth graders from Barringer Road Elementary School. Their vision for the canal was of a recreational resource with clean water and beautiful landscaping with plants and flowers.
A total of 158 students from the three districts took part in the contest.
Award ceremony
Herkimer Superintendent Kathleen Carney was on hand for the prize ceremony.
“It’s so important because you are the future,” Carney told all the award winners, according to a statement. “We’re extremely proud of your creativity and the work that you’ve done.”
Other speakers at the ceremony included Central Valley Superintendent Jeremy Rich, Frankfort-Schuyler Superintendent Joseph Palmer, Renee Scialdo Shevat of Gems Along the Mohawk, state Assemblyman Robert Smullen, Herkimer Mayor Dana Sherry, Herkimer County Community College President Terri Grates Day and the winning students.
Herkimer Elementary Principal Renee Vogt and Aiden’s and Miles’ teachers, Jenna Becker and Brittany Caiola, were also at the ceremony.
Vogt expressed gratitude for the opportunity given to the students.
“I think the program was a great idea,” she said in a statement, “and I’m glad our students were able to participate in it since it’s right in their backyard.”
Trying to look so far into the future was fun, Miles said.
And getting to go to the festival made it even better.
“We’re excited,” Aiden said.
The Marina Festival also included the arrival of the Seneca Chief, a canal boat replica; a visit from Glinda, the good witch in “The Wizard of Oz;” a tree planting; a food tent, music and fireworks.
The 363-mile Erie Canal which ran from Albany to Buffalo opened in 1825, making it the longest artificial waterway and biggest public works project at that time in North America. It brought industry, wealth and population growth to the upstate communities along its route.
But commercial traffic gradually halted over the course of the 20th century with the last commercial trip in the 1990s. Today the canal is used for recreation.
Congress established the 524-mile Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor in 2000; it runs from Albany to Buffalo and north along the Champlain Canal to Whitehall, connecting 200 upstate communities.
This article originally appeared on Observer-Dispatch: Will robots run the Erie Canal in 200 years? Student contest winners think so
Reporting by Amy Neff Roth, Utica Observer Dispatch / Observer-Dispatch
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
