KICK-OFF 2026

Kick-off! A long-anticipated event for returning members and an unexpected day full of excitement for the rest. Kick-off symbolizes the start of a new season, marked by the game reveal that changes every year. This year, the theme is REBUILT: digging deeper into discoveries. 

To start off the day, we enjoyed breakfast (pancakes, eggs, and juice) cooked by Mr. Aguilar and a few other members. It was pretty delicious! While we were eating, we gathered around the projector playing the countdown video. There were a lot of conversations pondering what the next mission might be, with questions floating around–will it be significantly harder than last year? Luckily, after the reveal, we arrived at a consensus that REBUILT is easier than the previous year’s REEFSCAPE. Our captain, Denielle Tran, remarked, “It’s cool that they incorporated elements from previous years!” 

This year, we had a surprise visitor. While taking a break, two members from the 501st Legion (learn more about them here) came to talk about their amazing Star Wars program and even gave a robot demonstration. Afterwards, we divided into 8 groups and designed robot prototypes, followed by a recording of our explanations. Then, we went over our assigned rulebook section and presented it to the rest of the team. 

While getting ready for lunch (really delicious tacos..), we seniors were “surprised” by the underclassmen–personalized gift bags! We were lined up and told to face a wall, and instructed to turn around at the end of a countdown with cameras facing us. Nonetheless, this gesture was very touching. Some of the bag designs were really interesting (keep scrolling). We worked until 6:30, setting up this season’s expectations and frameworks.

Rulebook presentations

Mr. Jim's Birthday

Senior Bags

Some bag snipes...