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It’s about 12 minutes long. We really had a great time making it and look forward to another session of STEAM and Gears.
In the 2024-2025 school year, the Mechanical Eagles advanced from the district competitions to attend State competition and came home with the 2nd place Inspire Award!
The 2025–2026 season was a milestone year for the Mechanical Eagles. Competing in FIRST Tech Challenge’s DECODE game, the team advanced from district competition all the way to the State Championship, earning the 2nd Place Inspire Award. Along the way, students completely reengineered their competition robot — moving from an early prototype to a dual-flywheel launching system capable of firing three artifacts in a row with consistency — while refining everything from chassis design to autonomous programming. Beyond the robot itself, the team built a strong support network, partnering with Medtronic for weekly mentorship, securing eight program sponsors, and logging 480 hours of community service. Students also broadened their horizons with a visit to Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, global collaboration with an FTC team in China, and mentoring Greenwood’s own middle school robotics team. It was a season defined by growth — in the robot, and in the students who built it.
This Season: BIOBUZZ (2026–2027)
This year, the Mechanical Eagles are taking on BIOBUZZ presented by RTX, the 2026–2027 FIRST Tech Challenge game and part of the larger FIRST CANOPY season theme. Inspired by the natural world, BIOBUZZ challenges teams to design and program robots around Pollen, this season’s new scoring element, bringing engineering creativity to a biodiversity-inspired competition field. The season officially launched at Kickoff on September 12, 2026, and our team is excited for what this year’s challenge brings.
District Competition Dates 2026–2027
In the 2024-2025 season our middle school Greenwood Robotic Eagles obtained a Champions Award AND a bid to the North-East Florida Regional Championships! What an incredible first year in the Lego Robotics league!
Our Robotics Eagles earned a host of awards in the 2024-2025 school year including:
It was a standout season for the Robotic Eagles. On the robot game side, the team built an advanced, low-profile driving base and designed a rotating lineup of custom attachments — from a horn-shaped tool that cleared a millstone and launched rocks, to a fork attachment that uncovered artifacts and sent a cart flying — refining their code with Python, gyro correction, and speed ramps until their best run scored 300 points. For their Innovation Project, Portable Protection for the Past, the team designed a modular, collapsible storage system to help archaeologists protect fragile artifacts from weather, theft, and damage in the field. After consulting with real experts — including a UNF archaeologist and a program manager — and iterating through three prototypes, the team landed on a lightweight, affordable design ready for real-world use. That combination of technical execution and thoughtful research earned the team 3rd Place Robot Design at Regionals.
This Season: BIOGLOW (2026–2027)
This year, the Robotic Eagles are taking on BIOGLOW, the 2026–2027 FIRST LEGO League challenge, which launched in August 2026 as part of the larger FIRST CANOPY season theme. Like its FTC counterpart, BIOGLOW is a biodiversity-inspired season, challenging teams to use technology, creativity, and research to better understand and protect the natural world. For their Innovation Project, our team is designing a combined streambank erosion-control and debris-collection device for Johns Creek, tackling a real environmental challenge right in our own community.
2026–2027 Tournament Season
Our exact tournament date will be confirmed once team registration is complete, but here is this season’s full slate of Northeast Florida FLL events. The Robotic Eagles will be assigned to one of the qualifying events below, followed by the Regional Championship if we advance.
| Event | Date | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Clay BOT Bash Practice | October 17, 2026 | Oakleaf High School, Clay County |
| Clay BOT Bash Qualifier | November 7, 2026 | Oakleaf High School (AM: 7:00–12:00 / PM: 1:00–6:00) |
| Bolles School Bartram Campus BOT Qualifier | November 14, 2026 | Jacksonville (AM: 7:00–12:00 / PM: 1:00–6:00) |
| BOT Qualifier | November 21, 2026 | Location TBA |
| Boys & Girls Club BOT Qualifier | December 5, 2026 | Location TBA |
| Regional Championship | December 18–19, 2026 | Alachua, Florida |
Our specific qualifier assignment will be announced once registration is finalized — check back for updates!
