Twin Lakes Academy Middle

At Twin Lakes Academy Middle, Our middle school CTE programs offer entry-level experiences that align with our high school programs. Courses range from Coding to Robotics, to Marketing. Students are also exposed to career exploration and soft skills education. Middle school students can also earn certifications in areas such as Computing, Multimedia, and Cybersecurity.

Accelerate Your Student's Future with Career and Technical Education!

At Twin Lakes Academy Middle, Our middle school CTE programs offer entry-level experiences that align with our high school programs. Courses range from Coding to Robotics, to Marketing. Students are also exposed to career exploration and soft skills education. Middle school students can also earn certifications in areas such as Computing, Multimedia, and Cybersecurity.

Accelerate Your Student's Future with Career and Technical Education!

Robowolves

In their inaugural season, the Robowolves made an impressive debut with achievements across innovation, competition, and community impact. They launched a successful initiative to reduce plastic use in secondary schools, earning district-wide recognition and an invitation to join a broader awareness campaign. Their Innovation Project, “Be The Change You Want to SEA,” won the Engineering Excellence Award at the FLL Regional Competition, showcasing their creativity and problem-solving skills.

At the FLL State Competition, the team placed 5th out of 88 teams in Robot Performance—an outstanding accomplishment for a first-year team. They also presented their project at the Monthly School Board Meeting, reinforcing their commitment to real-world change. To top it off, their efforts were featured in the March CTE Monthly Newsletter, highlighting their impact in STEM and technical education.

Timberbots

The Timberbots had a successful first season! In the Qualifier meet, the team placed 3rd in Robot Performance, earned the Robot Design Award, and won their spot at the regional competition. While at the Regional meet, our impressive Timberbots placed 7th out of 66 teams in Robot Performance and was the ONLY team from the district to place in the Top 10, outperforming other charter and private STEM area schools.

STEM STUDENTS IN ACTION

Students gain a wide range of skills that help them succeed not only in STEM classes but in any future academic or career path. Across the program, they build critical thinking, creativity, and problem‑solving as they design, test, and improve their ideas. They strengthen collaboration and communication by working in teams and sharing their designs, code, and models. They develop technical skills such as 3D modeling and 3D printing, coding, and architectural planning, along with digital literacy and confidence using technology to create solutions. They also grow in resilience and perseverance, learning to troubleshoot, revise, and keep improving their work. Altogether, these skills prepare students for high school pathways in engineering, computer science, architecture, urban planning, and environmental studies, and help them build the mindset of innovators ready for future challenges.

Twin Lake Students at Hack-A-Thon

Code For A While AI4Good Datathon

On March 28–29, 2026, STEM students Ujjwal Pasulabbi and Visakan Vijayashankar participated in the Code for a While AI4Good Datathon, a two-day event sponsored by the University of North Florida. During the event, students from Duval and St. Johns counties explored the State of Jax initiatives to better understand Jacksonville’s most pressing challenges and identify opportunities for meaningful solutions.

Ujjwal and Visakan focused on the “Research Desert – Optimizing Services Reach” problem, developing an integrated services approach and a mobile app to address gaps in access to essential resources. Across the competition, teams from Landon College Preparatory School and James Weldon Johnson Magnet School presented their solutions through websites. All participants did an excellent job leveraging AI tools to retrieve, analyze, and interpret data to develop thoughtful and innovative solutions.

Problem

Jacksonville faces significant food deserts where residents struggle with limited access to healthy food, unreliable transportation, and low household income. The document notes that “areas with the greatest need…are often the farthest from where those resources currently exist,” showing a structural mismatch between community needs and available services. These conditions contribute to higher rates of obesity, diabetes, and poor overall health in underserved neighborhoods.

Summary

By combining data from the Census, USDA, FEMA, EPA, and NaNDA, the project maps where food access, transportation barriers, and environmental risks overlap. AI tools help identify high‑need ZIP codes, highlight service gaps, and guide resource placement. The analysis shows that solving food deserts requires not just adding services but placing them intentionally based on real community data. The project also includes a mock‑up app that connects residents to food access programs, mobile clinics, benefits assistance, and transportation support.

Solution

The proposed solution integrates three strategies:

1. Local Food Production — Community gardens, urban farms, and backyard farming programs placed using data‑driven targeting.

2. Mobile & AI‑Powered Services — Mobile grocery trucks, mobile health clinics, and AI tools that guide planting, optimize routes, and support residents directly in their neighborhoods.

3. Sustainable, Safe Community Spaces — Transforming vacant lots into green spaces and ensuring all sites are placed in safe, flood‑resistant, environmentally healthy areas.

Together, these strategies create a scalable, AI‑driven system that improves food access, strengthens community health, and builds long‑term resilience in Jacksonville.

Twin Lake Students at City of Jax Minecraft

JaxBuild Challenge and Mayor’s Cup Recognition

The New Jax City Minecraft Build Challenge is an exciting competition hosted by Duval County Public Schools (DCPS) in partnership with Minecraft Education and C40 Reinventing Cities. This challenge invites students to design and build digital models of Jacksonville, focusing on sustainable solutions and innovative urban planning. Participants have the opportunity to create futuristic designs for the city, incorporating elements such as riverfront developments, community centers, and transportation networks, all while applying their creativity to address real-world urban challenges.

This year, over 98 teams and 500 students participated, showcasing their creativity, teamwork, and problem-solving skills. Among the standout teams, Minecraft Maniacs from Twin Lakes Academy Middle were recognized for their exceptional achievements. Although they were not finalists, their innovative designs and commitment to sustainability earned them high marks, securing them a top spot in the competition. They were honored for their hard work, creativity, and outstanding contributions to the event.

The Drone Zone (Coming in 2026-2027)

The Drone Zone will offer middle school students hands-on experience with drone technology, where they can learn about flight, engineering, and coding. Students work together to build and program drones, developing critical thinking, problem-solving, and teamwork skills. This club introduces students to the exciting possibilities of technology and innovation in a fun, interactive setting.

Minecraft Maniacs (Coming in 2026-2027)

The Minecraft Maniacs will allow middle school students explore creativity and problem-solving through the popular game, Minecraft. Students collaborate on building projects, develop coding skills through modding, and learn about design, architecture, and sustainability. This club fosters teamwork and critical thinking while making learning engagement fun.