Solvers of X & Y Students Lead Rick Hansen Robotics Team to Historic York Region Skills Challenge Result
SolversMind students Renee Zhang and Samuel Pan helped Rick Hansen PS achieve its best robotics result in school history at the York Region Skills Challenge through independent robot design, programming, and student ownership.
By SolversMind Robotics
Published March 4, 2026 | Updated July 31, 2026
Reviewed by SolversMind Robotics mentors
A strong robotics program is not measured only by competition trophies.
The true impact is seen when students take what they have learned, step into new environments, support their school communities, and become leaders beyond their own teams.
That is exactly what happened when members of Solvers of X & Y, SolversMind Robotics’ FIRST LEGO League program, joined the Rick Hansen Public School Intermediate Robotics Team and competed at the 2026 York Region Skills Challenge (YRSC) Elementary Robotics Challenge.
The team achieved a historic result for the school:
🏆 Second Place at the York Region Skills Challenge LEGO Robotics Challenge
🥈 Highest single-round score of 660 points
⭐ Best robotics result in Rick Hansen Public School history
Among the four team members, Renee Zhang and Samuel Pan, both core members of Solvers of X & Y, represented the SolversMind student community and brought their years of FIRST robotics experience into a school-based competition environment.
This achievement represents something bigger than one award.
It demonstrates the purpose behind SolversMind’s educational philosophy: students should not only learn robotics. They should develop ownership, confidence, independence, and the ability to create impact wherever they go.
What did the Rick Hansen robotics team achieve at the York Region Skills Challenge?
The Rick Hansen Public School Intermediate Robotics Team earned second place at the 2026 York Region Skills Challenge LEGO Robotics Challenge, with the highest single-round score of 660 points in the competition. The team represented students in Grades 7–8 and included four core members from SolversMind Robotics, including Solvers of X & Y members Renee Zhang and Samuel Pan. The students independently handled the complete engineering process, including robot design, building, programming, testing, and competition strategy, with no direct coach intervention during their solution development. Their success demonstrated the effectiveness of student-led robotics education and showed how FIRST robotics experience can transfer into school, community, and regional competitions. Supported by the broader SolversMind robotics pathway, including FRC Team 10015 Bubbles and FTC students, these young leaders are demonstrating that the greatest outcome of robotics education is not only building better robots, but building capable problem-solvers.
The York Region Skills Challenge is an annual event organized by the York Region District School Board (YRDSB), providing students with opportunities to demonstrate creativity, problem-solving, technical skills, and teamwork through hands-on challenges. (yrdsb.ca)
Why was this achievement important to SolversMind’s educational mission?
At SolversMind Robotics, robotics itself is only a tool.
The ultimate goal is not to create students who can only build robots.
The goal is to create students who can think independently, solve unfamiliar problems, communicate ideas, collaborate with others, and take ownership of their work.
This philosophy was clearly demonstrated by the Rick Hansen team.
The students did not simply follow instructions from an adult coach. They designed solutions, built mechanisms, tested different approaches, analyzed failures, and improved their robot through their own engineering process.
The complete solution was created by the students.
That ownership is the most valuable outcome.
Before the competition, SolversMind mentors shared an important message with students:
If the only result of robotics education is producing students who know how to build robots, then the education has failed.
A robot is temporary.
The mindset developed through robotics lasts much longer.
The Rick Hansen students experienced exactly that process. Their success came from years of developing independence through FIRST programs, where students are encouraged to explore, experiment, fail, improve, and eventually become confident creators.
Their achievement was also the result of commitment.
During the Christmas holiday period, the students spent several days in the SolversMind robotics studio working for more than ten hours each day, refining their designs and preparing for challenges.
That dedication was recognized not only by SolversMind mentors, but also by their teachers and school community.
The students were not just competing for themselves.
They were becoming role models for younger students watching their journey.
How did SolversMind’s FIRST teams support this student leadership journey?
The Rick Hansen achievement represents the broader impact of SolversMind’s FIRST robotics pathway.
Many members of the team began their journey through FIRST LEGO League, including Solvers of X & Y.
Through years of FLL experience, students developed skills in:
Mechanical design
Programming
Autonomous robot strategy
Engineering documentation
Testing and iteration
Presentation and communication
Team leadership
As these students grow, many continue into more advanced programs.
Several SolversMind students are now transitioning from FLL into FIRST Tech Challenge, while others are part of FRC Team 10015 Bubbles.
The knowledge and culture created through these programs continue to flow between generations.
Older students mentor younger students.
FRC and FTC students become technical role models.
FLL students learn that they are capable of achieving more than they initially imagine.
For this school competition, SolversMind’s support came not through building the robot for the students, but by creating the environment where students could develop the confidence to build it themselves.
That distinction matters.
The best education does not create dependence on mentors.
It creates independence from them.
When students eventually move into higher-level robotics programs, universities, engineering careers, or leadership roles, the most important skill they carry forward is not a specific robot design.
It is the ability to approach a difficult problem and believe:
“We can figure this out.”
Why is this considered an outreach and community impact achievement?
Outreach is often understood as teaching others about robotics.
However, meaningful outreach also happens when students use their own experiences to strengthen the communities around them.
The Rick Hansen robotics team represents that kind of impact.
Renee, Samuel, and their teammates brought FIRST-inspired values into their school environment. They demonstrated what student ownership looks like and showed classmates that advanced robotics learning is possible at the elementary and intermediate school level.
Their success also helped promote the FIRST culture beyond formal competitions.
Students who see their peers designing robots, writing programs, and solving engineering problems begin to view STEM as something they can participate in themselves.
This creates a positive cycle.
One student becomes inspired.
That student joins a robotics program.
They develop new skills.
Eventually, they inspire someone else.
This is the long-term impact SolversMind hopes to create.
The Rick Hansen team’s success was not only a regional competition result. It was evidence that years of student-centered education can produce confident young leaders who bring their skills into schools, communities, and future careers.
We are proud of Renee Zhang, Samuel Pan, and the entire Rick Hansen robotics team for representing the values that define SolversMind:
Learn independently. Build confidently. Lead generously.
Their achievement shows that the strongest robotics programs do not simply create better robots.
They create better problem-solvers.
Tags:
York Region STEM, York Region Skills Challenge (YRSC), Rick Hansen PS, Elementary Robotics Challenge, Aurora robotics, FTC robotics, SolversMind Robotics, YRDSB robotics challenge, Renee Zhang, Samuel Pan