Solvers of X & Y Members Lead Rick Hansen P.S. to Silver Medal Victory at York Region Skills Challenge
SolversMind FLL students Renee Zhang and Samuel Pan led Rick Hansen Public School’s Intermediate Robotics Team to win the Silver Banner Award at the YRDSB Skills Challenge LEGO Robotics Competition.
By SolversMind Robotics
Published February 4, 2025 | Updated August 07, 2026
Reviewed by SolversMind Robotics mentors
The impact of robotics education is not only measured inside competition arenas.
The greatest success happens when students take what they learn and bring it back to their schools, communities, and younger generations.
On February 4, 2025, two members of SolversMind Robotics FIRST LEGO League Team 52777 Solvers of X & Y, Renee Zhang and Samuel Pan, represented their home school, Rick Hansen Public School, at the York Region District School Board (YRDSB) Skills Challenge LEGO Robotics Competition.
Leading the Rick Hansen P.S. Intermediate Robotics Team, Renee and Samuel helped their school achieve an outstanding result:
🏆 Silver Banner Award – Area Competition, Intermediate LEGO Robotics Challenge (2024–2025)
This achievement represents more than a competition result.
It represents the growing impact of student leadership developed through FIRST programs.
What did Renee Zhang and Samuel Pan achieve at the YRDSB Skills Challenge?
Renee Zhang and Samuel Pan, members of SolversMind Robotics FIRST LEGO League Team Solvers of X & Y, led the Rick Hansen Public School Intermediate Robotics Team at the York Region District School Board Skills Challenge LEGO Robotics Competition on February 4, 2025. The team earned the Silver Banner Award at the Area Competition, recognizing their strong performance in the Intermediate LEGO Robotics Challenge. Through their participation in SolversMind’s student-led FIRST program, Renee and Samuel developed the technical skills, problem-solving abilities, and leadership confidence needed to guide their school team. Their success demonstrates how FIRST students can transfer their learning beyond their own competition teams and create a positive STEM impact within their schools.
How does this achievement reflect SolversMind’s student leadership philosophy?
At SolversMind Robotics, we believe the ultimate goal of robotics education is not simply creating successful competition teams.
It is creating students who can lead.
Renee and Samuel’s achievement at Rick Hansen P.S. is a perfect example of this philosophy.
Through years of FIRST LEGO League training, students develop much more than robotics skills.
They learn how to:
Analyze challenges
Design solutions
Program and test systems
Communicate ideas
Collaborate with teammates
Take ownership of projects
These skills naturally transfer into new environments.
Instead of only applying their knowledge for their own FLL team, Renee and Samuel used their experience to support their school community.
They became leaders.
They helped teammates understand robotics concepts, guided the engineering process, and contributed to the growth of STEM culture at Rick Hansen P.S.
This is exactly the outcome SolversMind hopes to create.
Students should not depend on coaches forever.
They should become capable of teaching, leading, and inspiring others.
Why is this milestone important for the SolversMind FIRST pathway?
The success of Renee and Samuel demonstrates the long-term impact of a student-led robotics ecosystem.
SolversMind’s mission has always been to develop students who can move from learners into leaders.
The FIRST pathway creates this growth:
FIRST LEGO League builds curiosity.
Students discover engineering, teamwork, innovation, and problem-solving.
Advanced FIRST experiences build ownership.
Students learn to take responsibility for increasingly complex technical challenges.
Leadership opportunities create community impact.
Students share their knowledge and inspire others.
Renee and Samuel’s achievement shows that the value of FIRST extends far beyond competition awards.
The skills learned through robotics can strengthen schools, support classmates, and create new opportunities for others.
For SolversMind, seeing students bring STEM leadership back to their own schools is one of the most meaningful outcomes of our program.
The Silver Banner is a celebration of the team’s achievement.
But the greater victory is seeing students become confident leaders who can create impact wherever they go.
This is why we believe in student ownership.
Because when students are given the opportunity to lead, they do not just build robots.
They build communities.
Tags:
Solvers of X & Y, SolversMind Robotics, Renee Zhang, Samuel Pan, Rick Hansen Public School, YRDSB Skills Challenge, LEGO Robotics, York Region STEM