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Boosting BEST Fundraiser
25 February
Thursday
Builder's Appliance Center
Englewood
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Steering Team
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Carolyn Bauer-Hub Director, Game, Returnables
JoAnne Fry and Lori Lazuk-
Consumable Kits
Jose Lopez-School Interface
Linda King-Volunteer Interface
Linda Scott-Secretary, Awards & Judging
Lois Walton-Budget
MSU Students-Protobot
Patty Gaspar-Events
Board of Directors
Kathy Geise - President
Tim Bouvia - Vice President
Jose Lopez - Executive Director
Carolyn Bauer - Secretary & Hub Director
Lois Walton - Treasurer
Steve Garran - Member at Large
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Welcome to the December 2015 Rocky Mountain BEST Volunteer Newsletter.
Our final newsletter of 2015
CELEBRATES our successes:
- The ENTHUSIASTIC 28 Teams, almost 500 students, 28 teachers and 43 mentors that represented communities across Colorado from as far away as Leadville.
- Our five TALENTED Schools that competed very well against the best teams at the Frontier Trails BEST Regional Championship in Fort Smith, Arkansas bringing home 7 trophies.
- Our 160+ AWESOME Volunteers who supported the teams all year. Check out our Volunteer Photo Collage below. Did we get a photos of you?
- The DEDICATED Leaders in the 2 new Colorado Hubs that brought BEST Competitions to their communities with 20 additional schools participating and brining home 3 trophies.
- And finally, all our GENEROUS supporters who donated on Colorado Gives Day to help fund the 2016 competition season. YOU CAN STILL DONATE TO INSPIRE AND EXCITE STUDENTS IN 2016. Click here to help bring BEST robotics to Colorado students in 2016!.
Our national organization - BEST Robotics Inc., is interested in your feedback from the BEST 2015 season. See below or
click this survey link. Learn more about the Colorado Science Conference outreach to introduce BEST to more Colorado science teachers.
Finally, we preview the 2016
BET THE FARM Game with a
Game Teaser Video and preview your opportunity to attend our Boosting BEST Fundraiser on Thursday, 25 February 2016.
Please forward this newsletter to others who might be interested in Rocky Mountain (RM) BEST.
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2015 Rocky Mountain BEST Regional Teams
Rocky Mountain BEST Teams Travel to Arkansas for Regionals
Congratulations to the 5 Rocky Mountain BEST Hub Schools who made us proud at the Frontier Trails BEST Regional Championship in Fort Smith, Arkansas. The teams listed below excelled with their robots and their BEST Award marketing presentations and exhibits against the 32 top teams from the 7 Frontier Trails BEST hubs from Arkansas, Colorado, Kansas and Oklahoma.
- Denver School of Science and Technology Byers Middle School
- Manning Middle School
- Ralston Valley High School
- St. Mary's Academy
- Skyline High School
Special recognition goes to the following schools that won awards at Regionals.
WOW - 7 Trophies!
Game Awards
- 2nd Place: DSST Byers Middle School
Special Awards
Most Robust
- 1st Place: Manning Middle School
Most Photogenic
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2nd Place: Ralston Valley High School
- 3rd Place: St. Mary's Academy
T-Shirt
- 2nd Place: Manning Middle School
Marketing Presentation
- 1st Place: St. Mary's Academy
Booth / Interview
- 1st Place: Ralston Valley High School
Looking ahead to 2016, please ask any schools that might be interested
in participating in our 2016 competition to visit our website or contact Jose Lopez at
[email protected]. Jose plans to email invitations to interested schools in February.
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Recognizing our Awesome 2015 Volunteers 
Remembering all the Faces with Photo Collages!
Throughout
2015 we had awesome support from over 160 volunteers - starting back in January with the Kit and Boosting BEST teams, to Game Field and Teacher / Mentor Institute event volunteers in July, and the
PAY DIRT
Events starting in September and finishing up in October.
We would not have been successful without YOU!
Special thanks to the following groups for recruiting volunteers: Buckley Air Force Base 460th Space Wing; Colorado School of Mines (CSM), American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME); American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA); Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE); Metropolitan State University of Denver (MSU); Verizon.
Please contact [email protected]
to get more information about how you can volunteer to make our 2016 competition successful!
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Congratulations to New Colorado BEST Hubs
Bringing BEST Competitions to More Schools!
Kudos go to the dedicated volunteers from Front Range BEST (Douglas County) and SoCo BEST @Trinidad State (southern Colorado) who brought BEST competitions to their communities for the first time! The following teams competed at the 2015 Frontier Trails BEST Regional Championship and they brought home 3 trophies. 
- Chaparral High School*
- Dakota Ridge High School* - Regional Founder's Award 1st Place
- New Vista High School* - Regional T-Shirt 1st Place
- Raton High School* - Regional Founder's Award 2nd Place
- Trinidad Middle School*
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BEST Robotics Inc. Wants to Know YOUR Thoughts
On-line Survey and Opportunity to Win a Prize! 
From Janne Ackerman, Executive Director BEST Robotics Inc.:
We want to know your thoughts about the just completed BEST Robotics season. The following survey, created in collaboration with the University of Texas at Dallas, is for all of our BEST family. Please take a few minutes to give us your feedback.
At the end of the survey, you may register for our prize drawings. We will be awarding three gift certificates ($100, $50, and $50) and ten 4-port USB 2.0 hubs in the shape of a robot (what else). This registration is separate from the survey -- we are NOT able to connect your name with your survey responses.
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Colorado Gives Day Contribution
Thanks to our Donors for their 8 December Contributions
Thank you to all those that donated to Rocky Mountain BEST
on
Colorado Gives Day
!
Although final 2015 totals are still being calculated, so far RM BEST received over $10,000 from our generous donors.
 2015
was another extraordinary, record breaking year with $28.4 million donated to Colorado nonprofits.
Looking for another EASY way to support Rocky Mountain BEST? 
Everyone needs groceries and gas. Why not let 5% of the money you are already spending benefit Rocky Mountain BEST? It's really easy.
Purchase a $10 King Soopers gift card for $10 and continue to add money to your gift card before you use it to buy groceries or gas. King Soopers will donate 5% of EVERY gift card purchase -- including refills -- to Rocky Mountain BEST... all at no cost to you -- FOREVER!
Interested?
Contact Lois Walton at [email protected] to make arrangements to purchase a card. Gift cards will also be available at the 25 February 2016 Boosting BEST Event.
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Colorado Science Conference Outreach
November Event Focused on Colorado Science Teachers
The Colorado Science Conference (CSC): Illuminate  Science-Get Switched On! - was held on 20 November.
Front Range BEST and Rocky Mountain BEST joined forces to participate as exhibitors. We spoke with teachers interested in BEST from a variety of locations: Fort Morgan, Fort Collins, Haxtun, Rifle, Calhan, Colorado Springs, Pueblo, Westminster and other places in Colorado!
BEST is still working to help groups create more hubs in Colorado to serve more students and teachers. The Colorado Science Conference was the perfect place to meet new teachers, explore informative presentations, and to spread the word about how BEST promotes STEM education. The day was a great opportunity to meet new and old BEST buddies!
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2016 Boosting BEST Fundraiser
SAVE THE DATE! Thursday 25 February with Cooking Demo, Silent Auction, Wine Tasting, and more!
We are teaming again with Front Range BEST to raise funds to host our 2016 BEST competition events. Boosting BEST will be a fun evening with hors d'oeuvres, a silent auction, wine tasting, students and their robots, and a cooking demonstration.
HOW YOU CAN HELP! We are looking for companies interested in underwriting our fundraising event for $500. We are also starting to solicit auction items and will send out additional details in the future. If you have items you'd like to donate for auction, please contact Lois Walton at
[email protected].
We need the following volunteers on Thursday, 25 February
:
- 8 set up helpers between 3:30 & 5:30 PM
- 4 helpers to sit at the registration table and check people in between 5:45 and 8:00 PM
- 2 check-out helpers between 6:00 and 9:00 PM
- 4 general helpers between 6:00 and 9:00 PM
- 2 check-out helpers between 7:45 and 9:00 PM
Please contact me at [email protected] for more information about Boosting BEST volunteering.
All those on our newsletter distribution will receive a personalized invitation. Bring your friends and family to let them get a taste of BEST!
 Builder's Appliance Center (BAC) Showroom at Santa Fe and Oxford Avenue south of Hampden Avenue, Englewood, CO is again the venue for this fun event.
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2016 Game Announced - BET THE FARM
Video Game Teaser Now Available, Lots More to Come
As we look forward to 2016, our national organization, BEST Robotics Inc. (BRI), has released the 2016 BEST Game Teaser. Check out the 91 second
BET THE FARM video via the box to the left or this
YouTube LINK .
From the BRI FACEBOOK page: Have you watched our Game Teaser? You will "dig" this game also!
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Rocky Mountain BEST would not be successful without
YOU! We are looking forward to working with you again in 2016 for the
BET THE FARM game.
Sincerely,
Linda King Volunteer Interface, Rocky Mountain BEST
 
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