Isabella Maya and Abigail Mosqueda both participated in the All-Earth Ecobot Challenge one year ago, learning the game but also fighting through the challenges of the timed competition.

That was their biggest takeaway – and a main priority to overcome for both when they returned this year for another opportunity. The two fifth-grade students at Houston Independent School District’s Lyons Elementary relished the moments with their teammates not only leading up to the competition but during the 2025 challenge, held April 26 at the Merrell Center in Katy.

“I felt less stressed as I was before,” Maya said. “It was fun practicing and getting ready.”

Added Mosqueda: “It was hard for me but also fun because I’m having fun with my friends. You’re not by yourself here so you don’t have to stress out.”

In its 16th year, the All-Earth Ecobot Challenge is an innovative engineering competition for students that combines problem-solving, critical thinking and the application of solutions for real-world problems. Teams use LEGO Education robotics kits to construct robots and navigate a STEM-based challenge simulating real environmental scenarios. The Challenge is provided to students across the Houston area through Harris County Department of Education’s (HCDE) Center for Afterschool, Summer and Enrichment (CASE) for Kids and the Education Foundation of Harris County.

This year’s theme, “Package Patrol,” challenged fourth through eighth-grade students and teams to examine and learn about the shipping industry, movement of goods and how robots and humans collaborate to deliver clothing, groceries, automobiles, technology and other products to doorsteps across the planet.

For an industry that will only grow as the participants age, the game table featured buildings and houses, and food and other goods. Students explored how energy is powered and how goods are gathered in a factory or manufacturing plant before being sent out for delivery.

“You have to put yourself in the shoes of a fourth grader,” said Joe Paneitz, All-Earth Ecobot Challenge curriculum director and game designer, also known as “Robo Joe.” “They ask mom or dad for this toy and then all of a sudden, it shows up at your doorstep in 24 hours – or even the same day. Kids don’t think about all the stuff that’s behind the scenes that make it happen and how incredible that is.

“So, we want kids to not only know the process, we want them to know that there are jobs in all of those steps and we want them to know how much energy these big facilities are burning up. There are problems with this and these are the kids that are going to solve those problems.”

For a number of students, the Challenge is their first taste of robotics, coding and engineering. It’s an entry point for STEM-related curriculum and eventual careers.

The competition requires participants to build a team with different roles and be flexible in trying to find solutions to the problems on their gameboards. They learn those engineering traits and pick up soft skills in a fun environment.

For some participants, they can also learn which roles they don’t enjoy – a factor just as vital as moving toward those responsibilities they love.

“There’s the head engineer, the head programmer, the fashionista, the spotter. There are all these different people working on this team,” Paneitz said. “They’ll come up to me and say, ‘Look what I coded, look what I built or look at what I created.’ We’re tapping into all these kids’ talents.

“Not all kids like to build and throughout their practices, they discover that they like creating or leading, or they don’t like it. It’s not so much what you like to do. It’s also discovering what you don’t like.”

The competition included two rotations. While one set of teams worked through their board on the competition floor, the other teams explored STEM activities in the EcoGenius Lab where community partners set up demonstrations and experiments for students.

CASE for Kids staff and volunteers kept the energy up throughout the day with music and encouragement. The fun also included costumes and a fashion show – students filled the center dressed as robots, scientists and Amazon support staff.

“I’m most inspired by how 100 percent engaged the kids are,” CASE for Kids Senior Director Lisa Caruthers said. “I visit afterschool programs all the time and I go and see kids during the school day, and there’s not another space where you can walk in and every single kid is either putting something together with their hands or supporting another partner on how to figure something out.”

As teams worked through the competition, the arena filled with cheers and hugs from students and parents watching from the stands. For some students, it was completing all the Challenge objectives with the two-and-a-half-minute time limit. For others, it was facing a problem, troubleshooting and finding the solution in real time.

Those outcomes – win or lose, big or small – showcase the Challenge’s importance to young minds and how developing these skills will pay off for life beyond the classroom.

“If it wasn’t for my friends, I would have been all over the place,” Maya said. “But my teammates were there to help me out and help us get as many points as we could.”

Said Paneitz: “We can do all this better and these are the kids that are going to solve that problem.”