diff --git a/Gemfile b/Gemfile
index 020dbe491..d3d733e54 100644
--- a/Gemfile
+++ b/Gemfile
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ ruby '3.4.5'
 
 gem 'mysql2', '~> 0.5.7'
 gem 'sqlite3', '~> 1.4'  # Alternative for development
-gem 'puma', '~> 5.0'
+gem 'puma', '~> 6.0'
 gem 'rails', '~> 8.0', '>= 8.0.1'
 gem 'mini_portile2', '~> 2.8'  # Helps with native gem compilation
 gem 'observer'  # Required for Ruby 3.4.5 compatibility with Rails 8.0
diff --git a/Gemfile.lock b/Gemfile.lock
index 5e7341cb0..fb240f4ef 100644
--- a/Gemfile.lock
+++ b/Gemfile.lock
@@ -106,6 +106,7 @@ GEM
       term-ansicolor
       thor
     crass (1.0.6)
+    csv (3.3.5)
     danger (9.5.3)
       base64 (~> 0.2)
       claide (~> 1.0)
@@ -128,6 +129,7 @@ GEM
     debug (1.11.0)
       irb (~> 1.10)
       reline (>= 0.3.8)
+    delegate (0.4.0)
     diff-lcs (1.6.2)
     docile (1.4.1)
     domain_name (0.6.20240107)
@@ -149,8 +151,11 @@ GEM
       faraday (>= 0.8)
     faraday-net_http (3.4.1)
       net-http (>= 0.5.0)
+    faraday-retry (2.3.2)
+      faraday (~> 2.0)
     find_with_order (1.3.1)
       activerecord (>= 3)
+    forwardable (1.3.3)
     git (2.3.3)
       activesupport (>= 5.0)
       addressable (~> 2.8)
@@ -197,10 +202,13 @@ GEM
       mime-types-data (~> 3.2025, >= 3.2025.0507)
     mime-types-data (3.2025.0924)
     mini_mime (1.1.5)
+    mini_portile2 (2.8.9)
     minitest (5.25.5)
     mize (0.6.1)
+    monitor (0.2.0)
     msgpack (1.8.0)
     multi_json (1.17.0)
+    mutex_m (0.3.0)
     mysql2 (0.5.7)
       bigdecimal
     nap (1.1.0)
@@ -217,7 +225,7 @@ GEM
       net-protocol
     netrc (0.11.0)
     nio4r (2.5.9)
-    nokogiri (1.15.2-aarch64-linux)
+    nokogiri (1.18.10-aarch64-linux-gnu)
       racc (~> 1.4)
     nokogiri (1.18.10-arm64-darwin)
       racc (~> 1.4)
@@ -230,6 +238,7 @@ GEM
       faraday (>= 1, < 3)
       sawyer (~> 0.9)
     open4 (1.3.4)
+    ostruct (0.6.3)
     parallel (1.27.0)
     parser (3.3.9.0)
       ast (~> 2.4.1)
@@ -350,6 +359,7 @@ GEM
       addressable (>= 2.3.5)
       faraday (>= 0.17.3, < 3)
     securerandom (0.4.1)
+    set (1.1.2)
     shoulda-matchers (6.5.0)
       activesupport (>= 5.2.0)
     simplecov (0.22.0)
@@ -358,7 +368,10 @@ GEM
       simplecov_json_formatter (~> 0.1)
     simplecov-html (0.13.2)
     simplecov_json_formatter (0.1.4)
+    singleton (0.3.0)
     spring (4.4.0)
+    sqlite3 (1.7.3)
+      mini_portile2 (~> 2.8.0)
     stringio (3.1.7)
     sync (0.5.0)
     term-ansicolor (1.11.3)
@@ -392,24 +405,37 @@ PLATFORMS
   arm64-darwin-22
   arm64-darwin-23
   arm64-darwin-24
+  arm64-darwin-25
   x64-mingw-ucrt
   x86_64-linux
 
 DEPENDENCIES
   active_model_serializers (~> 0.10.0)
   bcrypt (~> 3.1.7)
+  bigdecimal
   bootsnap (>= 1.18.4)
   coveralls
+  csv
   danger
   database_cleaner-active_record
+  date
   debug
+  delegate
   factory_bot_rails
   faker
+  faraday-retry
   find_with_order
+  forwardable
   jwt (~> 2.7, >= 2.7.1)
   lingua
-  mysql2 (~> 0.5.5)
+  logger
+  mini_portile2 (~> 2.8)
+  monitor
+  mutex_m
+  mysql2 (~> 0.5.7)
   observer
+  ostruct
+  psych (~> 5.2)
   puma (~> 6.0)
   rack-cors
   rails (~> 8.0, >= 8.0.1)
@@ -418,14 +444,19 @@ DEPENDENCIES
   rswag-specs
   rswag-ui
   rubocop
+  set
   shoulda-matchers
   simplecov
   simplecov_json_formatter
+  singleton
   spring
+  sqlite3 (~> 1.4)
+  timeout
   tzinfo-data
+  uri
 
 RUBY VERSION
-   ruby 3.2.7p253
+   ruby 3.4.5p51
 
 BUNDLED WITH
    2.4.14
diff --git a/app/controllers/participants_controller.rb b/app/controllers/participants_controller.rb
index 97f3241b0..878209621 100644
--- a/app/controllers/participants_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/participants_controller.rb
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ def list_assignment_participants
     if participants.nil?
       render json: participants.errors, status: :unprocessable_entity
     else
-      render json: participants, status: :ok
+      render json: participants.as_json(include: { user: { include: %i[role parent] } }), status: :ok
     end
   end
 
@@ -103,7 +103,7 @@ def update_authorization
   # DELETE /participants/:id
   def destroy
     participant = Participant.find_by(id: params[:id])
-  
+
     if participant.nil?
       render json: { error: 'Not Found' }, status: :not_found
     elsif participant.destroy
@@ -139,8 +139,7 @@ def filter_user_participants(user)
   # Filters participants based on the provided assignment
   # Returns participants ordered by their IDs
   def filter_assignment_participants(assignment)
-    participants = Participant.all
-    participants = participants.where(parent_id: assignment.id, type: 'AssignmentParticipant') if assignment
+    participants = Participant.where(parent_id: assignment.id, type: 'AssignmentParticipant') if assignment
     participants.order(:id)
   end
 
diff --git a/db/seeds.rb b/db/seeds.rb
index 9828977ea..7a6c5edfc 100644
--- a/db/seeds.rb
+++ b/db/seeds.rb
@@ -1,130 +1,129 @@
 # frozen_string_literal: true
 
 begin
-    #Create an instritution
-    inst_id = Institution.create!(
-      name: 'North Carolina State University',
+  # Create an instritution
+  inst_id = Institution.create!(
+    name: 'North Carolina State University'
+  ).id
+
+  Role.create!(id: 1, name: 'Super Administrator')
+  Role.create!(id: 2, name: 'Administrator')
+  Role.create!(id: 3, name: 'Instructor')
+  Role.create!(id: 4, name: 'Teaching Assistant')
+  Role.create!(id: 5, name: 'Student')
+
+  # Create an admin user
+  User.create!(
+    name: 'admin',
+    email: 'admin2@example.com',
+    password: 'password123',
+    full_name: 'admin admin',
+    institution_id: 1,
+    role_id: 1
+  )
+
+  # Generate Random Users
+  num_students = 48
+  num_assignments = 8
+  num_teams = 16
+  num_courses = 2
+  num_instructors = 2
+
+  puts "creating instructors"
+  instructor_user_ids = []
+  num_instructors.times do
+    instructor_user_ids << User.create(
+      name: Faker::Internet.unique.username,
+      email: Faker::Internet.unique.email,
+      password: "password",
+      full_name: Faker::Name.name,
+      institution_id: 1,
+      role_id: 3
+    ).id
+  end
+
+  puts "creating courses"
+  course_ids = []
+  num_courses.times do |i|
+    course_ids << Course.create(
+      instructor_id: instructor_user_ids[i],
+      institution_id: inst_id,
+      directory_path: Faker::File.dir(segment_count: 2),
+      name: Faker::Company.industry,
+      info: "A fake class",
+      private: false
+    ).id
+  end
+
+  puts "creating assignments"
+  assignment_ids = []
+  num_assignments.times do |i|
+    assignment_ids << Assignment.create(
+      name: Faker::Verb.base,
+      instructor_id: instructor_user_ids[i % num_instructors],
+      course_id: course_ids[i % num_courses],
+      has_teams: true,
+      private: false
+    ).id
+  end
+
+  puts "creating teams"
+  team_ids = []
+  num_teams.times do |i|
+    team_ids << AssignmentTeam.create(
+      name: "Team #{i + 1}",
+      parent_id: assignment_ids[i % num_assignments]
     ).id
-    
-    # Create an admin user
-    User.create!(
-      name: 'admin',
-      email: 'admin2@example.com',
-      password: 'password123',
-      full_name: 'admin admin',
+  end
+
+  puts "creating students"
+  student_user_ids = []
+  num_students.times do
+    student_user_ids << User.create(
+      name: Faker::Internet.unique.username,
+      email: Faker::Internet.unique.email,
+      password: "password",
+      full_name: Faker::Name.name,
       institution_id: 1,
-      role_id: 1
+      role_id: 5,
+      parent_id: [nil, *instructor_user_ids].sample
+    ).id
+  end
+
+  puts "assigning students to teams"
+  teams_users_ids = []
+  # num_students.times do |i|
+  #  teams_users_ids << TeamsUser.create(
+  #    team_id: team_ids[i%num_teams],
+  #    user_id: student_user_ids[i]
+  #  ).id
+  # end
+
+  num_students.times do |i|
+    puts "Creating TeamsUser with team_id: #{team_ids[i % num_teams]}, user_id: #{student_user_ids[i]}"
+    teams_user = TeamsUser.create(
+      team_id: team_ids[i % num_teams],
+      user_id: student_user_ids[i]
     )
-    
-
-    #Generate Random Users
-    num_students = 48
-    num_assignments = 8
-    num_teams = 16
-    num_courses = 2
-    num_instructors = 2
-    
-    puts "creating instructors"
-    instructor_user_ids = []
-    num_instructors.times do
-      instructor_user_ids << User.create(
-        name: Faker::Internet.unique.username,
-        email: Faker::Internet.unique.email,
-        password: "password",
-        full_name: Faker::Name.name,
-        institution_id: 1,
-        role_id: 3,
-      ).id
-    end
-
-    puts "creating courses"
-    course_ids = []
-    num_courses.times do |i|
-      course_ids << Course.create(
-        instructor_id: instructor_user_ids[i],
-        institution_id: inst_id,
-        directory_path: Faker::File.dir(segment_count: 2),
-        name: Faker::Company.industry,
-        info: "A fake class",
-        private: false
-      ).id
-    end
-
-    puts "creating assignments"
-    assignment_ids = []
-    num_assignments.times do |i|
-      assignment_ids << Assignment.create(
-        name: Faker::Verb.base,
-        instructor_id: instructor_user_ids[i%num_instructors],
-        course_id: course_ids[i%num_courses],
-        has_teams: true,
-        private: false
-      ).id
-    end
-
-
-    puts "creating teams"
-    team_ids = []
-    num_teams.times do |i|
-      team_ids << AssignmentTeam.create(
-        name: "Team #{i + 1}",
-        parent_id: assignment_ids[i%num_assignments]
-      ).id
-    end
-
-    puts "creating students"
-    student_user_ids = []
-    num_students.times do
-      student_user_ids << User.create(
-        name: Faker::Internet.unique.username,
-        email: Faker::Internet.unique.email,
-        password: "password",
-        full_name: Faker::Name.name,
-        institution_id: 1,
-        role_id: 5,
-      ).id
+    if teams_user.persisted?
+      teams_users_ids << teams_user.id
+      puts "Created TeamsUser with ID: #{teams_user.id}"
+    else
+      puts "Failed to create TeamsUser: #{teams_user.errors.full_messages.join(', ')}"
     end
-
-    puts "assigning students to teams"
-    teams_users_ids = []
-    #num_students.times do |i|
-    #  teams_users_ids << TeamsUser.create(
-    #    team_id: team_ids[i%num_teams],
-    #    user_id: student_user_ids[i]
-    #  ).id
-    #end
-
-    num_students.times do |i|
-      puts "Creating TeamsUser with team_id: #{team_ids[i % num_teams]}, user_id: #{student_user_ids[i]}"
-      teams_user = TeamsUser.create(
-        team_id: team_ids[i % num_teams],
-        user_id: student_user_ids[i]
-      )
-      if teams_user.persisted?
-        teams_users_ids << teams_user.id
-        puts "Created TeamsUser with ID: #{teams_user.id}"
-      else
-        puts "Failed to create TeamsUser: #{teams_user.errors.full_messages.join(', ')}"
-      end
-    end
-
-    puts "assigning participant to students, teams, courses, and assignments"
-    participant_ids = []
-    num_students.times do |i|
-      participant_ids << AssignmentParticipant.create(
-        user_id: student_user_ids[i],
-        parent_id: assignment_ids[i%num_assignments],
-        team_id: team_ids[i%num_teams],
-      ).id
-    end
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
+  end
+
+  puts "assigning participant to students, teams, courses, and assignments"
+  participant_ids = []
+  num_students.times do |i|
+    puts "Creating AssignmentParticipant for user_id: #{student_user_ids[i]}, assignment_id: #{assignment_ids[i % num_assignments]}, team_id: #{team_ids[i % num_teams]}"
+    participant_ids << AssignmentParticipant.create(
+      user_id: student_user_ids[i],
+      parent_id: assignment_ids[i % num_assignments],
+      team_id: team_ids[i % num_teams],
+      handle: Faker::Internet.unique.username
+    ).id
+  end
 rescue ActiveRecord::RecordInvalid => e
-    puts 'The db has already been seeded'
+  puts e, 'The db has already been seeded'
 end
diff --git a/spec/rails_helper.rb b/spec/rails_helper.rb
index 9d528540b..018510749 100644
--- a/spec/rails_helper.rb
+++ b/spec/rails_helper.rb
@@ -76,13 +76,19 @@
   abort e.to_s.strip
 end
 RSpec.configure do |config|
-  # Remove this line if you're not using ActiveRecord or ActiveRecord fixtures
-  config.fixture_path = Rails.root.join('spec/fixtures')
 
-  # If you're not using ActiveRecord, or you'd prefer not to run each of your
-  # examples within a transaction, remove the following line or assign false
-  # instead of true.
-  config.use_transactional_fixtures = true
+  if config.respond_to?(:fixture_path=)
+    config.fixture_path = [Rails.root.join('spec/fixtures').to_s]
+  else
+    # fallback for older Rails / rspec versions
+    config.fixture_path = Rails.root.join('spec/fixtures')
+  end
+  
+  # Since we're using Factory Bot instead of fixtures, we don't need fixture_path
+  # config.fixture_path is deprecated in newer RSpec versions anyway
+
+  # We're using DatabaseCleaner instead of transactional fixtures
+  # config.use_transactional_fixtures = false
 
   # You can uncomment this line to turn off ActiveRecord support entirely.
   # config.use_active_record = false