In February 2026, teams from across North Pacific Union headed to Columbia Adventist Academy for NPUC FIRST LEGO League Qualifier. Collaborating with NPUC and Adventist Robotics, this was CAA's first year to host the challenge.
Seven teams participated this year, representing schools and homeschool groups from Idaho, Washington, Montana and Oregon.
“Each FLL team is led by a teacher or volunteer mentor,” shared Ron Jacaban, Oregon Conference vice president for education, who has been working with the program for several years. “It’s a multifaceted competition that goes beyond LEGO robotics, even though that’s what gets most of the attention. Each year, there’s a theme and a problem that the teams get together to create a solution for. They do research, come up with their core values, create prototypes and presentation boards, and even get into some public speaking."
"When they get together for the [FLL qualifier] competition, these teams spend the morning with judges who review their projects and ask them questions about their team and their research," expanded Jacaban. "The teams get to respond and defend their projects – there’s so much more that they do than people usually think about. It’s an incredible opportunity for our kids to learn and develop skills they can take with them for the rest of their lives, and they have so much fun doing it.”
Teams range in size from four to 10 team members, and kids in fourth through eighth grade are eligible to participate in FLL events. High-performing teams in their region’s qualifier events earn the chance to compete at FLL Championship. This year’s cup winner of the NPUC qualifier was 406 Bricks from Mount Ellis Academy, followed by Groundbreaking Eagles from Lake City Academy. Both have the chance to compete against other teams from around the world at FLL Championship held at Forest Lake Academy in Florida.
“In Oregon Conference, we believe in creating opportunities for our kids,” said Jacaban. “Traditionally, we’ve provided athletic opportunities, music festivals and so much more. But there are still so many students who don’t fall into those areas of interest. Having something like FLL as an outlet for these students is so important to us, and we want to step up our support for it. It’s a great opportunity for the kids to stoke some of those ideas to the areas they might want to study in the future. It’s my hope that this continues to grow and that more and more schools participate in the future!”
If you would like to learn more about Adventist Robotics and their events, visit adventistrobotics.net. To learn how you can volunteer or sponsor next year's NPUC FLL Qualifier, contact Ron Jacaban at ron.jacaban@oregonadventist.org.
Mount Ellis Academy's 406 Bricks wins this year's LEGO Cup at NPUC FLL Qualifier.
Presented with a challenge, teams must create a solution and present the theories behind their solution prior to their robotic demonstrations later in the day.
Seven teams participate in this year's NPUC FLL Qualifier.
