Students forecast face of the Valley in 2050

WASILLA — Cities in the sky or floating on water. Carbon nanotubes tethering satellites to earth like a kite to its flier. Children whizzing around on hoverboards a la “Back to the Future.” Zombies on the Knik Arm Bridge.

Every year Arlie Lewis asks her students at Burchell High School to predict what they think will come to pass in the Valley between now and 2050. The scenarios above, ranging from optimistically idealist to nightmarishly pessimistic, were what the students came up with this year.

Of course, those were just the more thrilling predictions. Some might actually come to pass. Like Amber Mahoney’s prediction that Wasilla would get a Macy’s and an Olive Garden.

Jasmin Lynch predicted that in 25 years the number of schools in the Mat-Su Borough School District will have swollen to 115. The district currently has 44 schools, but builds them at a rate of at least one every other year.

A handful of the students predicted the Valley would have a new airport on the order of Ted Stevens International in Anchorage. Others said there will be a Costco built out here and that the Knik-Goose Bay Road area will spawn an incorporated city.

Lewis said she likes to let students use their imaginations.

“As long as they have their population numbers right, as long as there’s evidence, they can do what they want,” Lewis said. “Some of the ideas that they’ve come up with are amazing.”

Krystan Huntington came up with the zombies on the as-yet-still-theoretical bridge over Knik Arm.

Her presentation unfolded like the introduction to a good zombie/sci-fi thriller. In her future, the bulk of humanity lives in space while those left behind fall victim to a California company’s medical experiments that unleash a cannibalism-inducing virus. Survivors in the Valley surround themselves with sturdy fences and take every precaution before venturing out into the zombie-infested countryside.

During the last four years, Lewis has done this project 16 times with her classes.

“What has amazed me is how accurate the kids have been over the years,” Lewis said.

She’s compiled a list of things her students predicted would come to the Valley that have come true. Among them are a new movie theater, a Red Robin franchise, a Sports Authority, a small bus system, and a Three Bears store on Knik-Goose Bay Road.

“They never cease to amaze me,” Lewis said.

Contact reporter Andrew Wellner at andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com or 352-2270.