The gymnasium at Liberty High School in Hillsboro was transformed into something far more dynamic than a typical weekend school event. Tables became engineering workstations, cheers echoed between competition rounds, and brightly colored LEGO-built robots zipped across regulation fields as some of Oregon’s most dedicated young innovators gathered for the Oregon Robotics Tournament Championship.
The event marked the culmination of months of preparation for youth teams competing in the FIRST LEGO League, a globally recognized program that blends robotics, coding, research, and teamwork into a hands-on STEM experience. Teams from across the state earned their place at the championship through regional qualifying tournaments, making the Hillsboro gathering a showcase of Oregon’s best student engineers, programmers, and problem-solvers.
Unlike traditional sports championships that focus on speed or strength, this competition rewarded creativity, precision, and collaboration. Students designed, built, and programmed autonomous robots using LEGO components and software, then tested their creations against a series of carefully designed challenges. Each mission required strategic thinking, trial-and-error adjustments, and calm problem-solving under pressure, skills that translate well beyond the competition floor…