STEM Challenge 2026

STEM Challenge Day 2026 will be held on Saturday, March 28th at Rincon Middle School and will showcase teams of 5th grade and 8th grade students. The time will be approximately 8AM - 12 Noon.  The format for STEM Challenge Day 2026 will be very similar to last year’s event with the math & science task competition followed by the Treoybytes engineering task competition. You can find all updates and information on the  STEM Challenge 2026 web page under EUSD Teacher Resources!

STEM Challenge Day 2026 Informational Meeting

If you are new to this event or if you just want a refresher, please join me on Thursday, November 20th via Zoom from 3:00-4:00. You will be paid for your time. Here is the meeting LINK. This meeting is optional. 

Team Practice Days / EXPLORE After School Enrichment Opportunity

The EXPLORE after-school program will offer a paid opportunity for coaches to conduct team practices during the spring enrichment session, January 26 through March 27. Practice classes for the spring session should meet once or twice per week for one hour each day. If meeting twice a week, please schedule classes on either Mon/Wed or Tues/Fri so that students can enroll in another Explore class if they wish. Coaches will work closely with their school's site liaison and communicate the logistics, attendance roster, permission slips/registration forms, etc. One coach should teach the class - if more than one coach is on the team, coaches can rotate teaching (e.g. one coach on Mondays and the other coach on Wednesdays). Coaches will be compensated for teaching these after school enrichment classes and be paid the hourly instructional rate plus 20 minutes of prep each class meeting, $77.82 per session. If a coach decides they can't teach after school and will meet with the team during the school day, they cannot be compensated for that time. 

Competition Tasks

STEM Tasks

On the day of the competition, the team will be provided with a large envelope containing math, science, and technology tasks. Some examples of tasks that have been used in the past are: estimation, 24 Game, multiple choice problems, performance tasks, number puzzles like sudoku and kakuro, strategy games, and coding. The specific STEM tasks for STEM Challenge 2026 have not been decided upon yet. More specific information on the types of tasks will be sent out in January.

Treobytes Engineering Project

Treobytes will again provide an engineering task for STEM Challenge Day 2026. All eight students on a school’s team will meet with their Treobytes STEM coaches (provided by the Treobytes organization) five times over the 9-week period in preparation for the Treobytes Engineering Project competition. These five sessions will be run through the site’s ELOP after school enrichment class program. 

Putting Together a Team

Each team may have up to eight members. There will be no alternates. Make sure that students understand the commitment they are making.  Their practices and Treobytes training will be after school 1-2 times a week from approximately January 26 - March 27. They will also need to be available on the day of the event, Saturday, March 28th, from 8:00 AM - 12:00 PM.  Team rosters will need to be finalized by Friday, January 16th. 

8th Grade Teams ONLY

Any 8th grader who is planning on attending Del Lago Academy will NOT have a conflict on March 28th, the day of our STEM Challenge competition. The past couple of years there was a conflict with Del Lago’s Saturday orientations in the spring. There are no conflicts this year. 

Logo Contest & Theme 

The STEM Challenge Day 2026 logo contest will once again be open to all 8th graders—and, new this year, 5th graders are invited to join in too! The winning logo will be used to promote the event. Our theme for this year is “Survivor STEM Island: Outwit, Outbuild, Outlast!” Any 5th or 8th grader from your school can participate in entering their design into the logo contest and the finalists will be voted on by the 5th and 8th grade STEM Challenge teams.  The winner will receive a t-shirt with their design and a $25 gift card. We are asking STEM Challenge Day coaches to promote this contest at their school. More information on the logo contest will be sent out in the next week. 

STEM Challenge Day 2026 Flier Suggestion TEMPLATE: 

STEM Challenge 2026 Flyer Template (Make a COPY and personalize HIGHLIGHTED sections)

Informational Meeting Slide Presentation (11/20/2025)

Dear STEM Challenge Day 2026 Coaches,

Math & Science Practice Tasks

• Here are some resources for practicing with your team:  

  • STEM Challenge 2026 Tasks Practice Tasks

  • We are still working on creating the “Outbuild the Elements” engineering task guidelines and will let you know when they are ready. 

• 24 Game Cards - If you are running your practices through Explore, you can purchase the 24 Game Cards as a practice activity. If you are interested in doing this, and you would like these cards BEFORE practice begins, I would send this information to your ELOP site liaison AND office manager immediately AND I would talk to your office manager in person and ask politely if they could please order this as soon as possible. Here is the vendor that Purchasing is recommending. 

• Vendor Purchasing Information: https://www.24game.com/collections/24-game-collection. Supplier ID is 021130 under vendor Suntex International Inc.

Here are the names of the sets to order:

• 24 Game: Single Digits 

• 24 Game: Double Digits 

• 24 Game: Fractions & Decimals 

• 24 Game: Integers (Grade 8 only) 

Participant List

• Participant List

  • Please add student names to this document.

  • Have teams finalized by Friday, January 16th.

• Media Release Form

  • Most students already have this on file with their school. You can have your office manager check for you. 

  • If the student does not have permission to be photographed or videotaped, please send the one-time Media Release Form linked above to their parent/guardian for the event day. If the form is not signed and returned by March 15th, or if parents do not want their child photographed or videotaped, please indicate on the Participant List that the student does not have a Media Release. We will have a system on event day to not include those students in photos/videos.

  • There is a space on the Participant List form for you to note that students have media release forms.

Outbuild the Elements (Engineering Task) - This year, we are reintroducing an engineering task to the math/science portion of the competition. Students will be asked to build a model of a shelter that would protect them from the elements on “STEM Island”.  Students will build the model shelter during the competition hour on STEM Challenge Day. The shelter will earn points for each of the survival criteria it meets. Prior to STEM Challenge Day, teams will be given 3 different practice prompts to help prepare them for the actual challenge. On STEM Challenge Day, students will encounter different criteria than those used in the practice prompts. Practice materials will be sent to sites in the next few weeks. The materials include tongue depressors, blue tape, metal washers, and a plastic cup. A foot ruler will also be required, but we assume that coaches will have access to one from their classroom. (We apologize for the delay in getting these materials to you. Feel free to use your own or borrow tongue depressors and blue tape if you want to get started practicing sooner!) The practice prompts will be staggered so that teams will get Practice Prompt 1 in the link below. Practice Prompts 2 and 3 will be provided during the weeks of February 9th and February 23rd, respectively. Please read through the SCD26 Engineering PRACTICE Prompts - Outbuild the Elements slide deck carefully. Let me know if you have any questions.

Working as a Team - During the math/science portion of the competition, the team will have one hour to complete eight tasks (seven tasks for 5th grade). It is up to the team to decide who will work on which task(s). Keep in mind that this is a team event. Students should be encouraged to learn how to work together, knowing each other’s strengths and weaknesses. Some of the tasks that students will be asked to complete can be done fairly quickly, while others could take one person more than the entire hour to complete. Knowing this, it might be helpful for your team to come up with a plan for these types of situations. What will students do if they finish their task quickly? What will students do if the task they are working on is very difficult or is taking a long time to complete? Will you have a team leader? Take some time before the competition to have these conversations with your team.

Tool Box: Each team is allowed to bring a Tool Box to the competition. Brainstorm with your team what items they think would be helpful to bring. Click on the link for details.

Team Shirts: If you have not done so already, it is time to start thinking about your team shirt design! This is different from the logo competition. Each school will create a unique shirt design to represent their team. This is usually paid for by site funds.  

Proctors Needed!

This event could not happen without proctors. We hope you sign up! One proctor is assigned to each school's team and will provide oversight during the 1 hour math & science portion of the competition (Approximately 9:00-10:00 AM). Proctors will be given all the instructions they need in a document prior to the competition AND during a short meeting the morning of the competition. If you have a teacher candidate who would like to participate, they can be a proctor!

Proctor Sign Up Form:

STEM Challenge 2026- Team Event Proctor 

Volunteering to be a proctor is a wonderful opportunity to see a team at work! Of course, you will not be assigned to proctor your own team. The proctor's job:

• Walk the team from the pavilion to their assigned room. 

• Read a few instructions. 

• Check to make sure that no one has a device that can connect to the internet. 

• Stay with the team until the hour is up and then guide them to where they will watch their team do the trē∙o∙bytes competition. (At this point you will rejoin your own team.)

Tentative Schedule for STEM Challenge 2026 (March 28th)

8:30 - 8:50 a.m.     Welcome and Introductions (Pavillion)

9:00 - 10:00 a.m.   Math & Science Tasks Competition / 

Vendor & Club Demonstrations

10:00 - 11:00 a.m.  Engineering Event (trē∙o∙bytes) 

11:00 - 11:15 a.m.  Break & Student Snack

11:15 - 11:30 a.m.  Awards Ceremony (Pavillion)

Usually STEM Challenge coaches have their team members arrive a little early, around 8:00 or 8:15, so that they can gather and make sure everyone is accounted for. Also, this is a big event and, although there will be plenty of parking, it can take awhile to park and walk to the gathering area inside the gates near the front of the school.

Engineering Task Practice Materials - Washers and blue tape should be delivered to you next week!

Reminder: Teams ARE allowed to use calculators during the competition, so make sure your team has practice using this tool.

Awards - New this year: Each cohort will be eligible for first, second, and third place ribbons for the math/science portion of the competition. (Middle school is its own cohort and is scored the same as previous years.) And same as last year, the Trē∙o∙bytes competition will be scored separately and teams will be given awards for first, second and third place. 

Instructions for Coaches & Families

STEM Challenge Day - March 28, 2026

Please ensure that your students and families receive the event details. HERE is a suggested communications letter that you can send home to families. You will be forced to make a copy and can edit it to meet the needs of your school and team.

Coaches: Please arrive at Rincon MS by 7:45 AM on March 28th and check in at the registration table as soon as you get there. (If you are also a team proctor, please arrive by 7:30 so that you can get your registration materials and then meet in the library at 7:45 AM for proctor instructions.) Gather your team together between 8:00 and 8:30. Please encourage your students to use the restroom before 8:30.  Remember, you may only send 8 students to participate in the competition. Also, no one is allowed into any of the competition classrooms prior to the competition. 

Here are your general instructions:

1. At check-in, you will receive a folder with the following:

   1. General instructions

   2. Name badges for each participant

   3. Site map with rooms highlighted

   4. Participation certificates

   5. Wrist bands for any students who did not provide a media release form.

2. Most teams take photos during the break and at the awards ceremony, so you may want to distribute the certificates after the last event (beginning of the snack break). If there is a spelling error on a certificate, please note the correct spelling clearly on the certificate itself (preferably) and leave it at the registration table with the EUSD rep. A replacement certificate will be sent to the principal the following week.

3. After the "Welcome", teams will be dismissed to walk to their classroom with their proctor.

4. At 10:00, after the math/science portion of the competition, head to the Pavilion (5th Grade: Drones, STEMBoats & Formula Tech) or the Multipurpose Room (8th Grade: Tower Defense). 5th grade only: When teams arrive at the pavilion, they will either be instructed to compete first, OR wait on deck to complete, OR present their trifolds first and then return to the pavilion to compete. 

5. After the Trē∙o∙bytes engineering competition, teams will have a 15-minute snack break while scores are finalized. 

6. Teams, coaches, and parents will gather at the Pavilion by 11:25 for the competition results.

7. Return site placard and folders to registration table. (These are reused annually.)

Schedule:

7:30 - 8:30 Check in to receive your folder and gather your team together.

8:30 - 8:50 Welcome (Teams will sit on the floor of the pavilion)

8:50 - 10:00 Math/Science Task competition (Classrooms)

10:10 - 11:10 Trē∙o∙bytes Competition 

11:10 - 11:25 Snack Break

11:25 - 11:45 Awards Ceremony at Pavilion

• Treobytes ELOP Schedule - Dates by School

• Treobytes Practice Resources Folder

• Promotional Video

• Tower Defense Rubric

• STEMBoats Rubric

• Formula Tech Rubric

• Drone Sports Rubric

We are so excited to bring back the STEM Challenge logo design competition! ALL 5th and 8th grade students in the district will have the opportunity to enter a logo contest for STEM Challenge Day 2026. (5th grade is new to the contest this year!) The theme for this year's event is "Survivor STEM Island: Outwit, Outbuild, Outlast!" We are asking for your help in promoting this contest. In the next week or so you should be receiving flyers in your box that you can put up around your school (5th/8th grade classrooms, office, etc.).  Students can read about the guidelines and how to submit their designs using the QR code found on the flier linked below. You do not need to collect, judge, or submit anything. All logos are due on or before January 23, 2026. The winner will be announced at the close of the competition and will receive a t-shirt with their design and a $25 gift card.

Here are some important and helpful links:

Logo Design Competition Flier

Logo Design Instructions

Logo Submission Form (Also linked above in the Logo Design Instructions)

What Makes a Great Logo - YouTube Video

STEM Challenge Logo Examples from 2022 - 2025

STEM Challenge 2026 Tasks Practice Guidance

Math Content Covered: Through the end of Module 4 (Eureka Math Squared)

No science content this year

STEM Challenge 2026 Tasks Practice Guidance

Math Content Covered: 

• Through Unit 8, Lesson 11 (Open Up Resources)

Science Content Covered:

• MS-LS4-6  

• MS-LS4-4  

• MS-ESS3-4

• Treobytes ELOP Schedule - Dates by School

• Participant List 2026

• Media Release Form (2026)

• STEM Challenge 2026 Tasks Practice

• Practice Schedule Template (2026)

• Tool Box Instructions STEM Challenge 2026 

• Parent Information Letter - Info for Day of the Event