After competing in a qualifying tournament in North Bay in December 2025, a rookie FIRST LEGO League team, #70999 MUFFINS, made up of students from schools in the District Municipality of Muskoka recently competed at the 2025-2026 Ontario Provincial Championships.
The team is made up of 10, Grade 4 to 8 students from Huntsville Public School, Pine Glen Public School, Riverside Public School, V.K. Greer Memorial Public School, and Land of Lakes Public School.
The championships were held in Oshawa in early February, and hosted 83 teams from across the province. The tournament took place over two days and consisted of four parts – innovation project, core values, robot design, and robot game.
The theme for this year’s UNEARTHED competition was archaeology. For their innovation project, team MUFFINS chose to address problems with both funding and education in archaeology. Their solution was to create a scholarship at Huntsville High School for a deserving student pursuing studies in archaeology, or a related discipline. So far, they have raised almost $8,000 towards the scholarship that will run every year for eight years.
Overall, MUFFINS placed sixth out of 43 teams in the Technology Division, and received two awards:
- The Core Values Award, which celebrates teamwork, respect, inclusion, and gracious professionalism.
- FIRST LEGO League Challenge – Advancing Award, which is presented to teams that embody the entire FIRST LEGO League experience.
As a result of their ranking, the team received an invitation to compete at a FIRST LEGO League International Tournament, and recently received the official announcement that they have been accepted to compete in the Canada Cup of Robotics Niagara 2026, which is taking place in June.
“I couldn’t be more proud of this team. They have accomplished so much this season, but they are not done yet!” said team coach, Leslie Cuthbertson. “The team has some exciting ideas about how to expand on their innovation project and improve their robot game. I am excited for what is still to come this season!”
To learn more about the team, follow their Facebook page: Muskoka Brand Gourmet Recreation Centre.
Congratulations and good luck, MUFFINS!
