Competition Tiers

• All teams must be registered by the Team Leader no later than December 18, 2026, at 5:00 pm Eastern Time.
• All project submissions must be received in the registration portal no later than December 23, 2026, at 5:00 pm Eastern Time.
• All submitted projects will undergo Federal eligibility and compliance screening to ensure:
  • Each individual meets the published eligibility criteria; and 
  • Each submission is complete, appropriate, and compliant with the published guidelines.
• At least three judges will score eligible and compliant project submissions using detailed rubrics provided by the Challenge.
• Scores will be sorted by state, participation category, and track to determine the State Champions for the following:
  • Elementary Student – Standard Track
  • Middle School Student – Standard Track
  • Middle School Student – Trailblazer Track
  • High School Student – Standard Track
  • High School Student – Trailblazer Track
  • Educator Category
• In addition to the State Champions, one additional Champion, per track and category, will each be identified from the District of Columbia, U.S. Department of War Education Activity schools, Tribally-controlled schools, and collectively from the U.S. Territories.
• Due to their large populations, two State Champions, per track and category, will be identified from California, Florida, New York, and Texas. (These are the states represented by 25 or more members in the U.S. House of Representatives.)

• Each State Championship team will be invited to participate in the Regional Championship.
• Regions have been determined by locality and population, placing each state, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. territories into five distinct groups. Each winning team (or teams) from the State competition is assigned to a region for the regional competition.
• Each State Championship team will present an updated project to, and answer questions from, a panel of judges via a live, virtual format, competing against the other State Champions in their region within the same categories and tracks resulting in Regional Champions for the following:
  • Elementary Student – Standard Track
  • Middle School Student – Standard Track
  • Middle School Student – Trailblazer Track
  • High School Student – Standard Track
  • High School Student – Trailblazer Track
  • Educator Category

Regions have been determined by locality and population, placing each state, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. territories into five distinct groups. Each winning team (or teams) from the State competition is assigned to a region for the regional competition.

• Regional Champions will be invited to Washington, DC, for a three-day, in-person event including a showcase of selected Regional Champions and a final competition resulting in National Champions for each of the following tracks:
  • Elementary Student – Standard Track
  • Middle School Student – Standard Track
  • Middle School Student – Trailblazer Track
  • High School Student – Standard Track
  • High School Student – Trailblazer Track
  • Educator Category
• Note: The U.S. Government must complete a review of team members, Team Leaders, chaperones, and the teams’ projects before teams can be invited to the National Finals.