One of those surprises was in Tonganoxie.

On Wednesday, Jan. 21, surprise teams followed colorful mobile billboard sign trucks and traveled across the region to deliver the news in person. Union Station President and CEO George Guastello and Burns & McDonnell Chair and CEO Leslie Duke were on hand to give students high-fives and congratulate them on their outstanding proposals.

As part of the groups area tour, the caravan stopped at Tonganoxie Middle School, as the TMS submission, “Mechanical Madness: The Science of Cars,” was named a finalist.

“Top 20 day is always incredible,” said Duke. “Getting to see the excitement on students’ faces as they realize their STEM ideas made the Top 20 is exactly what Battle of the Brains is all about.”

STEM advocate, civil astronaut and former NASA rocket scientist Aisha Bowe also joined the surprise crews. In April 2025 Bowe flew on Blue Origin’s NS-31 mission. During the flight, she conducted groundbreaking research on how crops grow in microgravity.

The 2025-26 Burns & McDonnell Battle of the Brains competition engaged more than 6,700 students from 250 schools across 48 school districts. More than 710 entries were reviewed by STEM professionals from Burns & McDonnell and Science City, highlighting bold ideas to inspire curiosity, creativity and meaningful learning for visitors of all ages.

Here’s a look at other finalist teams along with their exhibit title:

• Blue Springs South High School, Blue Springs School District, “Going Nuclear”

• Brittany Hill Middle School, Blue Springs School District, “Listen hEAR”

• Clinton County Middle School, Clinton County R3, “Autoverse: The Science of Cars”

• Clinton Middle School, Clinton School District, “Disaster Strikes”

• Cottonwood Point Elementary School, Blue Valley Schools, “Sound All Around”

• EPiC Elementary School, Liberty Public Schools, “Erosion Expedition”

• Graden Elementary School, Park Hill School District, “Subterranean Secrets”

• Heartland Elementary School, Blue Valley Schools, “It’s a Hard Rock Life”

• Horizon Elementary School, Smithville School District, “Poop: There It Is!”

• Indian Woods Middle School, Shawnee Mission School District, “Scientific Symphony”

• Ingels Elementary School, Hickman Mills C-1 Schools, “Inside Out”

• McCarter Elementary School, Topeka Public Schools, “Science of the Home”

• Mize Elementary School, USD 232, “Time to Drive Deeper”

• Nativity Parish School, Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas, “Nature Knows Best: The Science of Biomimicry”

• Olathe East High School, Olathe Public Schools, “Brainy Bugs”

• Olathe North High School, Olathe Public Schools, “Magical Microbes: It’s a SMALL World”

• Oxford Middle School, Blue Valley Schools, “Super Adaptors”

• Sni-A-Bar Elementary School, Grain Valley Schools, “Out of This World”

• Sunset Valley Elementary School, Lee’s Summit R-7 Schools, “What a Site!”

• Overall, $157,500 in grants will be shared among schools with finalist teams to support STEM learning.

• One team will earn the grand prize: a $50,000 grant and the opportunity to collaborate with Burns & McDonnell and Science City professionals to develop a permanent exhibit valued at more than $1 million at Science City. The winning proposal will be revealed next Wednesday, Feb. 4 at Union Station.

TMS won the grand prize in 2019 and THS placed fourth in 2017.