Hi ,

Here's some updates and news from FIRST^® Tech Challenge.

In this week's blast:

✅ Dean's List Award Nominations Closing Soon!

🏠 2026 FIRST^® Championship Housing Program Resources

🏆 Ask Me Anything About Animation and Storytelling: Worcester Polytechnic Institute — Webinar 1 of 2 on the FIRST Digital Animation Award

☎️ Upcoming Team Webinar Calls

🤖 Control System Update

💼 FIRST Certified Professional Development BOGO Offer 

Dean's List Award Nominations Closing Soon!
This Monday, December 15, 2025, is the last day to submit your team's nomination for the Dean's List Award! Now is your chance to share with the entire FIRST^® community that inspiring student on your team who demonstrates leadership, has an entrepreneurial spirit, and is dedicated to increasing awareness of FIRST. 

For all nomination requirements and instructions, read the full Dean’s List Nomination Guide. Only students in grades 10 and 11 are eligible. Please email us with any questions at FTCDeansList@firstinspires.org. 

Submit your nomination before this Monday, December 15, at 11:59 p.m. ET. 

2026 FIRST^® Championship Housing Program Resources
We are once again partnering with ConferenceDirect as the official and only FIRST-approved housing provider for the 2026 FIRST^® Championship presented by BAE Systems. Together, we are building resources to help qualifying teams successfully choose and book their hotel accommodations. Read the blog to review the resources so if your team qualifies, you’re ready to go! 

Read the blog here!

Ask Me Anything About Animation and Storytelling: Worcester Polytechnic Institute — Webinar 1 of 2 on the FIRST Digital Animation Award
Join students from the Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) Interactive Media and Game Development (IMGD) program on December 16, 7–9 p.m. ET for this FREE webinar to learn more about animation and storytelling, and to ask questions about submitting an entry for the FIRST Digital Animation Award (submission deadline January 12, 2026)! WPI is offering a team grant to the winning team ($2,000 value) and a $1,000 WPI scholarship to ANY student who is a member of a team that submits an entry. More details on the Digital Animation Award webpage.

Register Now! 

By signing up for the webinar, you will be asked to supply personal data to WPI for this event. This data will be subject to WPI’s privacy policy. You should review WPI’s privacy policy and understand how your data will be used before sharing your information.

Upcoming Team Webinar Calls
Mark your calendars for the upcoming Team Webinar calls!

👉 Final Team Judging, Gameplay, and General Support Webinar: December 11, 8:00 p.m. ET

As a reminder, you can review the webinar schedule and past call recordings if you missed a previous webinar.

Control System Update
We're excited to share our Control System Update, learn all the details in our blog post.  

Our companion blog post introduces the FIRST A301, the new standardized smart motor designed to power FIRST Tech Challenge robots starting in the 2027-28 season. The companion blog also discusses proposed hybrid control system configurations as teams work to transition to the new control system. Check it out! 

FIRST Certified Professional Development BOGO Offer 
FIRST is thrilled to offer an exclusive Buy One, Get One FREE (BOGO) opportunity to help you dig deeper into your skills through FIRST Certified Professional Development Sessions (January - October 2026, Remote and In-Person). 

Now thru December 31, 2025: Two participants can attend the same session for the price of a single registration. Don’t let this golden artifact of an opportunity get buried — empower your educators, coaches, mentors, and volunteers to discover fresh insights and uncover new expertise in FIRST programs!  

Contact the FIRST Professional Development team with questions.