Reboot Robotics Monthly Newsletter – October 2025 Edition
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A Message From the CEO
October has been a focused month for Reboot Robotics! Both of our teams have been digging deep as they prepare for upcoming competitions—brainstorming, building, and fine-tuning their designs with determination and creativity.
I also had a wonderful time meeting so many amazing kids and families at the Homeschool Outdoor Fair! Sharing our passion for robotics and hands-on STEM learning with the community is always one of my favorite parts of what we do.
As we look ahead to competition season, we’re continuing to actively fundraise to support our teams and programs through the remainder of the fiscal year in April. We ask for your consideration in helping us continue to inspire young innovators and fuel their curiosity through STEM with a monetary donation.
Here’s to more creativity, collaboration, and coding as we launch into the heart of competition season!
With gratitude,
Nicole Neeld
Founder & CEO, Reboot Robotics
Team Highlights
🟣 FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) - Nuclear Space Potatoes
The team has been deep in their robot build this month! Ideas are being tested, refined, and sometimes completely reimagined as they discover all the ways not to build the mechanisms they’re dreaming up. As a smaller team, progress has taken a bit longer than expected, but their determination hasn’t wavered.
To make sure they’re ready for their first meets, the team is also building a pre-designed starter bot to compete with while continuing to develop their main competition robot. Every meeting brings new lessons, creative problem-solving, and plenty of laughter along the way!
🟢 FIRST LEGO League (FLL) - Space Taters
Things are really heating up for the Space Taters as they gear up for their upcoming tournament next month! Their Innovation Project is fully developed and thoughtfully planned, and they’ve just begun creating their mockup and will be preparing their presentation for the judges—complete with visuals.
On the robot side, their drive base is built, and nearly every student is working on their own mechanism and code to complete specific missions on the field. They’ve even started scoring some points! Up next: refining their code, fine-tuning their mechanisms, and deciding on the best mission order to maximize their score on competition day.
Upcoming Events
🤖 FIRST Lego League Challenge Scrimmage
Date: Saturday, November 8
Time: 9:00am-1:00pm
Location: Kickapoo High School 3710 S Jefferson Ave Springfield, MO
Details: Our Space Taters will be participating in their very first scrimmage! This is a great opportunity for the team to test their robot, see other teams in action, and experience the excitement of competition. All FIRST events are free and open to the public—come cheer them on and see robotics in action!
🤖 FIRST Tech Challenge Meet
Date: Saturday, November 8
Time: 10:00am-2:00pm
Location: Kickapoo High School 3710 S Jefferson Ave Springfield, MO
Details: Our Nuclear Space Potatoes will be participating in their first Meet of the season! All FIRST events are free and open to the public—come cheer them on and see FTC robotics in action!
🎉 STEM Lab – Tangram Puzzles
Date: Monday, November 10
Time: 7:00 – 8:00 PM
Cost: $5 per participant
Location: 2801 W Broadway Street, Bolivar, MO
Details: Join us for our next Reboot Robotics STEM Lab! Students will explore the fun of hands-on STEM with our Tangram Puzzles activity, learning basic principles of geometry and problem-solving while creating fun designs. Space is limited, so registration is required. To reserve your spot go to https://www.rebootrobotics.org/event-list. This is a great opportunity for all students to build, test, and learn in a fun, interactive environment!
🤖 FIRST Lego League Challenge Tournament
Date: Sunday, November 23
Time: 8:00am-4:00pm
Location: Rolla Junior High School 1360 Soest Rd. Rolla, MO
Details: It’s the big day! Our Space Taters will be competing in their official FLL Tournament, showcasing months of hard work, creativity, and teamwork. They’ll present their Innovation Project, run their robot on the competition field, and share their problem-solving process with the judges. All FIRST events are free and open to the public—come out and support our amazing Space Taters as they take on their first tournament!
Spotlight Series
We’re excited to shine the spotlight on three of our amazing team members — Drew and Sam from our FTC team, and Amelia from our FLL team — for taking part in Hack Club’s Daydream event in Springfield this fall!
Hack Club’s Daydream is a student-run global Game Jam, bringing together young creators, programmers, and artists from over 100 cities around the world to learn, collaborate, and build their very own games.
Drew, Sam, and Amelia spent the weekend diving into game design and coding, developing their own original game from concept to creation. While the game wasn’t completed during the weekend competition, it featured a fun and creative concept: a duck with a rider who used a shotgun that shoots potatoes to blast obstacles while trying to reach the objective in a dungeon. While they didn’t take home a trophy, they gained valuable experience, met other creative minds, and challenged themselves to try something completely new — and that’s a win in our book!
We love seeing our students explore STEM beyond robotics and take part in opportunities like this that challenge their skills and creativity. Their participation shows the many ways our students are learning, experimenting, and growing as innovators. We’re proud of each of them for their teamwork, curiosity, and willingness to try something new!
Thank You to Our Sponsors!
We’re thrilled to recognize Silo Ridge Country Club as a Silver Level Sponsor! Their support helps our students dig into hands-on STEM activities and access the tools they need to explore robotics and innovation. We’re proud to have them in the Reboot Robotics community and deeply appreciate their dedication to inspiring tomorrow’s problem-solvers and innovators.
Favorite Moments This Month
Homeschool Outdoor Fair
We had an amazing time connecting with local homeschool families at the Homeschool Outdoor Fair! Students had the chance to drive our robots and we were thrilled to see their excitement and curiosity. We also gave away the remaining science kits from the Midwest STEM Conference, helping more kids explore STEM at home. It was a fantastic opportunity to share about Reboot Robotics, our competitive teams, and the programs we offer—we loved meeting so many new faces in our community and seeing some familiar faces too!
Another Fun STEM Lab
Our Lava Lamps STEM Lab was a hit! The students loved mixing liquids to see density in action, adding their favorite colors, and watching the reaction when Alka-Seltzer tablets were introduced. Many kids were eager to experiment at home with different oils and water temperatures. The most popular challenge? Seeing how many Alka-Seltzers it would take to make the lava “go Boom!” Each participant went home with some extra tablets to continue the fun—with a reminder to try larger experiments outside and with parent supervision. It was an exciting and hands-on evening, and we can’t wait for next month’s STEM Lab!
Support Reboot Robotics
We’re thrilled with all the learning, building, and fun happening with our robotics teams and programs! Thanks to your generosity, we’ve made great progress toward funding our programs for the remainder of the fiscal year, but we still have about $3,200 to raise to stay funded through April.
Every contribution helps provide hands-on STEM experiences, mentorship, and opportunities for students to explore robotics and innovation. Your support ensures that our teams can continue to grow, learn, and thrive.
Thank you for helping us inspire the next generation of engineers and innovators!
Want to help us keep growing?
That’s a Wrap!
October has been full of hands-on learning, collaboration, and excitement at Reboot Robotics! From the Homeschool Outdoor Fair to our Lava Lamps STEM Lab, and seeing our students dive into competitions and creative challenges like Hack Club Daydream, it’s been a month packed with inspiration.
As we head into November, we’ll be deep in preparation for our FLL Tournament and kicking off the FTC Meets. We can’t wait to see our teams put their skills, teamwork, and creativity into action on the field—and continue growing as young innovators both on and off the robotics floor.
Here’s to a month of problem-solving, learning, and STEM fun! Come out and cheer on our FLL and FTC teams—they’d love your support!
As always, we’d love to hear from you! Your feedback helps us grow, so feel free to share your thoughts, ideas, or questions.
Until next time, keep building, exploring, and dreaming big with us!
📧 Contact us: info@rebootrobotics.org
