Announcement: FIRST Lego League (FLL) Participation

Public Statement: 3/18/2026

Sunshine STEM Academy is committed to providing a safe, values-driven learning environment where students can explore STEM with integrity, respect, and trust.

After careful review, we have decided that Sunshine STEM Academy will not participate in FIRST LEGO League (FLL) competitions at in the future seasons.

This decision is based on concerns raised in public reporting about historical leadership and governance issues associated with the organization behind FLL, including widely reported allegations regarding connections between one of its founders, Dean Kamen and Jeffrey Epstein. While we recognize the many positive experiences that students and mentors can have through FLL, we believe it is important to align our extracurricular partnerships with our community’s expectations for ethical leadership and accountability.

We want to be clear that our decision is about our program alignment and community trust. It is not a reflection of our students, families, coaches, volunteers, or the many dedicated individuals who support youth robotics.

What this means for our students:

We will continue offering hands-on robotics and engineering experiences at our academy through our Non-Competitive Robotics Programming Courses using EV3 Mindstorm and Spike Prime robotics education kits.

We are actively evaluating alternative activities that share our educational goals and values.

We will share an updated plan and timeline for robotics opportunities as soon as selections are finalized.

Contact

If you have questions or would like to discuss this decision, please reach out to us at:

Email: info@sunshinestem.com

Phone: 404-910-3899

Thank you for your understanding and for continuing to support our students as they learn, build, and lead.

Sincerely,

Sunshine STEM Academy Administration

Sunshine STEAM Academy has been more than just an education provider for our family, it’s a guiding, informative partner that continually keeps us updated on our children’s progress and provides thoughtful ideas on how we can support them. Mrs. Duzyol and Mr. Duzyol are both highly experienced mentors who genuinely care about every student’s development. Our oldest daughter’s academic progress benefited greatly from their guidance after attending the summer camp with Mrs. Duzyol as an 8th grader, her SAT score rose from 950 to 1200. She also improved by roughly 150 points in Math and English, with overall gains around 200–300 points, and Math and English showed especially strong gains. In addition, the one on one sessions have been incredibly beneficial for her with Mrs. Duzyol. She teaches in a very clear way, she makes the hardest topics feel easy for students. She knows many subjects beyond her main field and is always ready to help. Our younger daughter, who started with encouragement but needed motivation, has grown into a student who loves learning and has made academic progress. Her individual sessions, along with the FLL activities led by Mr. Duzyol, have shown outstanding results, and she has participated in competitions. Group projects benefit from encouragement, creative thinking, and speaking opportunities in group presentations, all facilitated by Mr. Duzyol. The environment is inspiring, supportive, and genuinely joyful learning is exciting, and the outcomes are exceptional.

T.E.