Put It Into Action.
Challenges & Competitions are where students launch what they have learned into action. They bring together technical skill, communication, creativity, and leadership to take on problems with real stakes including problems in their own community. Teams identify a need, design a response, build it, and present it to the people it actually affects.
What Students Compete In & Showcase
Four kinds of high-stakes moments, all built on work students have already done in the Academy or a Future Pathway.
Competitions
Some challenges end in a judged competition. Orblynx teams are coached through the brief, the build, and the presentation to the judges.
Community Solutions
Teams identify a need in their own community, design a response, build it, and present it to the people it actually affects.
Showcases
Students present finished projects to families, educators, and community guests, and defend the decisions behind them.
Work That Continues
Some projects outlast the program: a bench a community keeps using, a platform that outlived the student who founded it.
Three Steps, and None of Them Is a Sign-Up Form
Challenges & Competitions is invite-only by design. Students are selected on readiness, from inside programs they are already in.
Nominated
An Orblynx educator nominates a student through their current Academy program or Future Pathway, based on readiness for the level of challenge, not on grades or test scores.
Invited
Orblynx reviews the nominations for each challenge and sends the family a direct invitation, with the challenge, the dates, the commitment, and any cost stated up front.
Confirmed
The family confirms the place, and the student joins the challenge team. Everything after that (coaching, build time, travel logistics) is handled by Orblynx staff.
Challenges & Competitions are an extension of the Orblynx student journey and are not available through direct enrollment. Students are invited to participate based on their interests, experience, and readiness. If your student is new to Orblynx, the best place to begin is with STEM Innovation Academy. You can also join our interest list to hear about future opportunities.
What Students Have Already Done Here
A record of the challenges Orblynx students have taken on, and what resulted.
The BioBench team with Governor Spanberger
The BioBench team in Partnership with Morven Park
The BioBench team in partnership with AWS
Student Environmental Action Showcase (SEAS)
Step Up Loudoun Youth Competition
Step Up Loudoun, presenting on stage
BioBench, 2nd Place at Step Up Loudoun
YEA Investor Panel
eCYBERMISSIONBioBench: From Student Project to Sustainable Innovation
Step Up Loudoun Youth Competition
Student Environmental Action Showcase (SEAS)
eCYBERMISSION
Founded by an Orblynx Student
One student’s idea grew into a platform for girls across Loudoun County. In 2020, while still in middle school, an Orblynx student, Mahsa, helped found the Girl emPower Summit in collaboration with the Loudoun Coalition on Women and Girls (LCWAG). Today, Girl emPower is one of LCWAG’s signature initiatives, serving girls ages 12–18 through leadership, confidence-building, wellness, STEM, entrepreneurship, and future-focused experiences.
Since its founding, the initiative has reached more than 160 girls across Loudoun County. The youth-led Girl emPower Summit Committee was recognized by Loudoun Cares with the Outstanding Youth Volunteer Team Award, and its founder with the Loudoun Chamber of Commerce Community Leadership Award.
2020 Founded · 160+ girls reached · Countywide youth leadership
When the Work Leaves the Building
Coverage of Orblynx students and the projects they have taken into competition.
BioBench Dedicated to the Commonwealth of Virginia
Morven Park Unveils Biodegradable Mushroom Bench
Read the coverage →
2024 WUSA9 Eco Challenge Award
Watch the segment →
Furniture From Fungi: Local Students Look Forward to a Sustainable Future
Read the feature →Curated from the News & Resources content source. Media items are entered once and surfaced here by tag. See all News & Resources →
Not Something You Sign Up For
Invitations come from Orblynx. Join the waitlist and we’ll be in touch.