Lansing Tech Studio

09/18/2026

Parallel Technologies, Inc. 's fundraiser for Lansing Tech Studio was featured in their board update:

09/17/2026

🚀 FIRST K-8: What We Know So Far!

FIRST has shared some exciting updates about its upcoming K-8 robotics program, and we’re looking forward to seeing how it develops!

A lot will be staying the same for students familiar with FIRST LEGO League:

🔹 Core Values will continue to be part of the experience.
🔹 Students will still work on an innovation project.
🔹 Robot missions will remain compatible with SPIKE Prime for the first 1–2 years.
🔹 The table size will stay the same (so you can keep using your currently built tables)

These updates are encouraging for our Lansing Homeschool Hackers community, as they mean many of the professional skills and STEM experiences students gain through FLL can continue to be useful as they grow.

So, what's next?

We currently have four FLL Challenge teams and a siblings-only FLL Explore team. Next year, we plan to expand our robotics opportunities to include a high school team through FIRST Tech Challenge or VEX, thanks to the generous financial donations and building space donation we have received.

We’re also exploring whether FIRST K-8 or a VEX program would be the right fit to provide opportunities for our younger students.

We’re still waiting for the full FIRST K-8 program to be revealed before making our ultimate decision of choosing FIRST or Vex for our full K-12 robotics program in 2027. We want to understand the complete program, how it will work, and how it can best serve our students and families to make sure it aligns with the Lansing Tech Studio mission.

We are just so grateful that after growing this program for 5 years we get to say that we will have a built out K-12 robotics program next year!

We’re excited about the possibilities ahead and grateful for the support that is helping us grow robotics opportunities for homeschool students in our community!

Read more about the updates here:

Stay informed on the next generation of FIRST K-8 robotics programs launching in 2027, designed to foster teamwork & STEM learning for young innovators.

09/16/2026

We are so incredibly thankful each year for all the experts that volunteer their time and knowledge to teach our students about the theme of the year and give them feedback on their projects to iterate their ideas and move through the scientific process!

This year Dr. Kirt Onthank from Walla Walla University will be virtually meeting with at least one of our teams!

Check out his research here: https://gab.wallawalla.edu/~kirt.onthank/research.html

09/14/2026

💡 Help Us Shape Lansing Tech Studio Service Projects for 2027!

One of the things we love about Lansing Tech Studio is that our kids aren't just learning how to build, code, create, and problem-solve — they're learning how to use those skills to make a difference. ❤️

As we plan for 2027, we're rethinking our monthly service projects. We want to mix things up and create opportunities for our students to serve in ways that connect their interests and skills with real needs in our community.

Here are some ideas we're considering:

💻 Tech Help Days — helping seniors or community members with technology

🤖 STEM Days for Younger Kids — our students teach and lead hands-on STEM activities

♿ Accessibility Projects — identify a need and design a solution to make a space or activity more accessible

🌱 Environmental Projects — pollinator gardens, habitat projects, community gardens, or other hands-on projects

🎨 Community Beautification — creating signs, art, or improvements for a community space

📱 Community Resource QR Codes — creating QR codes that make it easier for people to find local resources like food, housing, transportation, and other community services

🗺️ Food Resource Map — researching and creating an easy-to-use map of local food pantries, free meals, community gardens, and other food resources

❤️ Homeless Care Packages — putting together practical care kits

🍲 Community Meals — serving or preparing meals for local organizations

🧹 Earth Day Park Cleanup — this one is staying! 🌎

🏘️ Helping Local Nonprofits — using our technology and creative skills to help an organization with a real need

🎯 Community Problem-Solving Projects — identify a real community problem and work together to create a solution

We don't necessarily want to do the same thing every month. We want service to be an opportunity for our kids to DO something meaningful, learn new skills, work together, and see the impact they can have.

So, we're asking our Lansing Tech Studio community:

👉 What kinds of service projects would YOU love to see us do in 2027?

Do you know of a local organization that could use our students' help? Have an idea for a hands-on project? Have a skill you'd love to share with the kids?

Drop your ideas in the comments! 👇

We're excited to build our 2027 service calendar with our community! 💙🤖🌎

09/13/2026

🤖💙 Help Support Lansing Homeschool Hackers This Season! 💙🤖

Our Lansing Homeschool Hackers teams are about a month into another exciting season of building, coding, problem-solving, teamwork, and innovation—and we’d love for our community to be part of the journey!

These students are learning so much more than how to build a robot. They’re learning how to think creatively, work through challenges, communicate their ideas, persevere when things don’t go as planned, and turn big ideas into real solutions.

A season of robotics comes with expenses for registration, robot parts, team supplies, competitions, and other hands-on learning experiences.

That’s where you can help! 💙

Every donation—big or small—helps give these students the tools and experiences they need to learn, grow, and build something amazing.

Support the Hackers by donating here: https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/donation-form/general-giving-15

🚀 Will you invest in the next generation of innovators?

👉 Donate today and help our Lansing Homeschool Hackers have an incredible season!

Thank you for supporting our teams and believing in what these kids can do! 🤖💻💙

Your gift powers local kids’ curiosity 🚀Every dollar helps students in Lansing explore coding, robotics, and real-world problem solving through our hands-on…

09/08/2026

Here's a video tutorial of how to use the mission path planner narrated by Noah Thiede!

https://lansingtechstudio.org/mission-path-planner/Learn how to u...

09/05/2026

At our season kickoff, we had worksheets for the kids with each of the core values and different tasks that they do throughout the season typed in circles. They colored and drew pictures that represented those words to them.

We are turning these drawings into buttons. So, I am starting to use AI to combine the turned in drawings for each "participation area".

The kids did a great job, and the final button designs are turning out so cute so far!! Our siblings-only Explore team will get to start putting these together soon to go on everyone's lanyards. These buttons give judges such a cool display of all that the kids did and learned this season!

08/29/2026

🎯 SMART Goals: Turning Big Ideas Into Action! 🤖

One of the skills our FIRST LEGO League teams will be learning this season is how to set SMART goals—goals that are:

✨ Specific
📏 Measurable
💪 Achievable
🎯 Relevant
⏰ Time-bound

It’s easy for kids to say, “We want to make our project better!” But a SMART goal helps them turn that big idea into something they can actually work toward.

For example:

❌ “We want to learn more about biodiversity.”

✅ “By September 10, our team will research three threats to biodiversity and identify at least two ways each threat affects our community.”

Throughout the season, our teams will practice setting goals for their Innovation Project, robot, teamwork, and personal growth—then checking their progress and adjusting when needed.

This helps kids learn how to plan, problem-solve, communicate, track progress, and take ownership of their work—skills they can use long after the robots are packed away.

That’s one of the things we love about FIRST LEGO League: kids aren’t just building robots. They’re learning how to turn an idea into a plan and a plan into action. 💡🤖

Keep going! Check out the next lesson and practice what you’re lear...

08/27/2026

Looking for a FIRST LEGO League Team This Season? 🤖💚

Still looking for a FIRST LEGO League team to join this season? FIRST in Michigan has a handy team search tool that can help!

🔎 Search for a team near you: You can use the FIRST in Michigan team search to find teams in your area and see which ones may be looking for students.

Whether you're brand new to FIRST LEGO League or looking for a team for another season, this is a great place to start.

👉 **Don't wait until the season is underway!** Teams have limited spots, so start reaching out now to see what opportunities are available.

Know a family looking for a team? Share this post with them! 🤖

https://www.firstinspires.org/team-event-search

Search for FIRST teams & events near you by searching on and filtering by keywords, states, or zip codes. Find local event volunteer opportunities.