Ateneo JHS is overall champ of C40 & Minecraft Education’s ‘Reinventing Cities’ Design Challenge

Composed of team members Fonzy Sevilla (10-Realino), Wackyboy Buenaventura (10-Realino), Trystan Gomez (10-Realino), Ralf Ceralde (10-Pires), and coach Noviel Natividad (faculty, AJHS Science Subject Area), Ateneo de Manila Junior High School emerged as the JHS category overall champion of Quezon City’s "C40 Schools Reinventing Cities Through Minecraft Education Design Challenge” on August 17, 2023. As the champion, the team received a P30,000 prize while Ateneo de Manila received P15,000 as the JHS team champion school. In addition, AJHS also won the “Most Impactful Proposal” citation in the Junior High School category.

The competition challenged participants to use Minecraft to reinvent, reconfigure, and revitalize a Quezon City road “…with innovative solutions… that enhance urban biodiversity, promote sustainable mobility, and improve public health.” For their pitch, the Ateneans reimagined Agham road with sustainable features like green roofs, e-jeep and e-tricycle terminals, a dual pipe system for sewage and rainwater management, solar lights, road studs, and so much more.

The boys have been working on their Minecraft build since April 2023, when they were still in Grade 9. They submitted their entry- a three-minute video which explained their virtual creation- in time for the June deadline. On August 2, Team AJHS was announced as a Top 15 Finalist on Quezon City’s Climate Change and Environment Sustainability Department Facebook page. Their co-finalists in the JHS category were Batasan Hills National High School, Camp General Emilio Aguinaldo High School, Jose P. Laurel Sr. High School, and Saint Patrick School of Quezon City. (The 10 other finalists were composed of five schools in the Grades 4-6 category, and another five schools in the SHS category.) All 15 finalist teams received a P5,000 participatory prize.  

All finalist teams from the 15 schools were then invited to showcase their innovative solutions for their chosen Quezon City roads to Mayor Joy Belmonte and other city officials on August 17 at Quezon City Hall. The Ateneans were accompanied to the presentation by AJHS Science faculty Noviel Natividad, their coach; Dr. Jovy Bactad, Chair of the AJHS Science Subject Area; and Mrs. Genalyn Sanvictores, newly-appointed Principal of Ateneo de Manila Junior High School.

Kudos to all the winners- especially our innovative Ateneans- for impressing the judges with their “visionary solutions to create a greener, more sustainable future for our beloved Quezon City!”

“Schools Reinventing Cities” is a global program developed by Minecraft Education and C40. Quezon City was the fifth city in the world to participate in the challenge, the first four being Buenos Aires, London, Medellin, and New York.