Surrey Schools Minecraft Challenge celebrates five years

May 13, 2026

Minecraft Challenge 2026 Secondary winner: AEEKL, Fraser Heights Secondary

With more than 1,200 students and 143 submissions, the annual Surrey Schools Minecraft Challenge is showing no signs of slowing down as it celebrates its fifth year.

“Having done this for a few years now, we see an increasing number of returning teams year over year, and I think they always come back with even bigger and bolder ideas than the year prior,” said Gareth Poon, challenge founder and district technology helping teacher.

“Seeing that growth on display has been really great to see and it’s always interesting to go back and look at a team that’s maybe been doing it for a few years and seeing how their build IQ has evolved.”

While past challenges tasked students with building structures like local bridges, their own school or their ideal park, this year’s students were asked to create a festival centred around a theme relating to a social issue.

Minecraft Challenge 2026 Intermediate winner: Eco Builders, Katzie Elementary

Submissions were broken up into three age categories, with the following teams being crowned the winners for each:

Primary (Kindergarten-Grade 3): Arctic Avengers – Beaver Creek Elementary
Intermediate (Grades 4-7): Eco Builders – Katzie Elementary
Secondary (Grades 8-12): AEEKL – Fraser Heights Secondary

“We had a lot of great builds incorporating things like inclusivity, anti-bullying and environmentalism that were then integrated into a theme-park setting,” said Poon.

The results? Plastic recycling theme park games, interactive museum “rides” that explored racism and accessible fairgrounds with rides designed for people with disabilities.

Minecraft Challenge 2026 Primary winner: Arctic Avengers, Beaver Creek Elementary

“Students are so imaginative and this year’s theme really allowed them to merge their engineering skills with social and emotional learning,” explained Poon.

To download and explore the finalist and winning builds from this year’s challenge, head to surreyschoolsone.ca/minecraftchallenge2026 (you will need Minecraft Education installed to view).