Five 12th-grade students from across Pohnpei are preparing to represent the Federated States of Micronesia at the 2026 FIRST Global Challenge in Incheon, Republic of Korea, October 7–10.
Three team members—Giselle, Rodrick, and Natasha—represent Pohnpei Island Central School. Jenamy, a Nanpei Memorial High School student, and Yumelinda, a Madolenihmw High School student, join the team through the Upper Bound Program. Together, the students come from Kitti, Madolenihmw, Nett, and Sokehs.
Igniting Innovation
In Incheon, Team FSM will join national teams from more than 190 countries. This year’s “Igniting Innovation” challenge asks students to design and build robots for tasks inspired by wildfire prevention, mitigation, and recovery.
Pohnpei-based students have carried the FSM flag at every FIRST Global Challenge since 2022. That year, a PICS team returned from Geneva recognized as “First among small countries.”
Habele helped build the foundation for school-based robotics across Micronesia. Today, local students and educators carry the work forward, while Habele continues to provide targeted practical support and publicity. Last year, that included equipment and travel support for the Pohnpei team competing in Panama. This year, Habele is designing and providing Team FSM’s send-off shirts and helping share the students’ story.
The basalt gateway
At the heart of the new team shirt is a basalt gateway inspired by Nan Madol. The stacked stones recall a Pohnpeian achievement that UNESCO recognizes for its monumental architecture and technical sophistication. Circuit lines rise from the gateway toward the four stars of the FSM flag, joining two eras of island ingenuity in a single image.
Within the design, the gateway becomes a threshold between inheritance and possibility. Its message is simple: these students are not leaving their culture behind as they enter the technologies of the future—they are taking it with them.
Habele is proud to stand behind Team FSM and wishes the students every success as they carry Pohnpei’s creativity, determination, and problem-solving spirit onto the world stage.
