Welcome to the 2016 May Rocky Mountain BEST Newsletter.  In this newsletter is our tentative 2016 schedule; complete list of 2016 bESTology activities, updated list of signed up 2016 schools; and list of near term volunteer needs.
Helping inspire youth for a lifetime!
Help us b ring a 7th year of BEST robotics to over 400 Colorado Middle & High School Students with the 2016 BET THE FARM game! 
  2014 RM BEST    2015 RM BEST
2016 Game BET THE FARM
To Challenge and Inspire Student Teams!
Rocky Mountain BEST has tentatively established the dates for our fall competition events and summer workshop event. Please save the event dates so you can volunteer or attend these events.
 
2016 RM BEST Event
Event Time and Place
Teacher / Mentor Institute - 2 day teacher/ mentor training  provided jointly with Front Range BEST Hub
Attendance by invitation:  Teachers/ Mentors. NO STUDENTS.
Thursday and Friday, 21-22 July
Metropolitan State University of Denver Student Success Building
Kickoff - Game revealed, student and teacher/ mentor training and protobot demo.
Attendance by invitation: Student teams and Teachers/ Mentors.
Saturday, 3 September
(Labor Day Weekend)
Noon - 4 PM
South High School Denver 
Practice Day - Time for student teams to practice with their robots on 4 quadrant game field.
Attendance open to the public.
Saturday, 8 October
9 AM - 3 PM
South High School Denver
Game Day - Student teams compete for awards on 4 quadrant game field.
Attendance open to the public.
Saturday, 15 October
7 AM - 5:00 PM
Metropolitan State University of Denver Auraria Event Center

 
2016 Game Teaser - BET THE FARM
 
2016 BEST Game Teaser BET THE FARM
The full details of the BET THE FARM game will be revealed to the student teams at the September Kickoff Event.

In case you missed it, our national BEST Robotics Inc. organization has released a 90 second Game Teaser Video for this year's Game - BET THE FARM. This year's game teaser is available on YouTube at:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nx7TeeGObHw
 
 
2016 BET THE FARM bESTology 
14 Weeks of Game Activities and Hints by Friends of BEST Alabama
 
What is bESTology?  

bESTology is the study of Engineering, Science and Technology. Students are encouraged to become bESTologists!  
  
A harvest of weekly activities were unveiled each Sunday. Each post contains HINTS for the upcoming BEST Robotics Game - BET THE FARM. In addition, bESTology teaches the science, engineering and technology that will enhance the learning experience for the 2016 BEST game.   

A summary of all the postings was posted on 8 May:   Harvest Time! bESTology Week 15.  This table highlights the 14 activity topics. 
Week 8 - Plant Safety First
Introduction to farming and agriculture
Safety protocols on a farm
Farm phrases Food safety
Evernote and the BEST Farm Journal BEST practices for safety
Consumable kit applications for the farm Week 9 - Seeds of Knowledge
Exploring the Cooperative Extension Service Genetically modified organisms (GMO's)
Week 2 - Let's Talk Farm Value of bees
Farming and agriculture terminology Svalbard Seed Vault
Marketing and Business Week 10 - Don't Be A Pest
Media Pesticides, Herbicides and Fungicides
Week 3 - Germination of Agriculture and Farming MSDS
Historic overview of farming and agriculture
EPA and regulations
Mind Mapping Week 11 - Robots Have Arrived
Beef Basics Farming sustainability and automation
Week 4 - BEST Digs Soil Farm and agriculture robots
Soil and Science Farms of the future
Geology of the U.S. Week 12 - It's Time to Grow Up
Crop rotation Vertical farming
Week 5 - Fields of Opportunities Hydroponics
Career choices and skill sets
Women in agriculture Transporting livestock
Creating an organization chart
USDA, U.S. State Department and foreign trade
Meet your grocer and thank a farmer Invasive species and imports
Week 6 - Comparing Apples to Oranges Freight rates
America's cash crops
Crop forecasts and economics NASA and commercial space corporations
Impact of automation on crops
Growing food on the International Space Station
Week 7 - Circling the Farm
Science and the cycles involved with farming on Mars
Center Pivot Irrigation
3-D printing
Pi and farming
Teamwork
 
PARTICIPATING ROCKY MTN BEST 2016 SCHOOLS
We will be hosting 28 Schools + 1 Alternate at our 2016 Competition
We are thrilled to have 22 schools signed up for the 2016 Rocky Mountain BEST  competition. Teachers may continue to sign up their teams for the 2016  BET THE  FARM  competition. 
RM BEST logo
We are coordinating with the Front Range BEST Hub team who are recruiting schools from the southwestern  portion of the Denver metro area including Douglas County. In addition, SoCo BEST @Trinidad State is recruiting teachers in southern Colorado and  new Golden Plains BEST in Julesburg, Colorado is recruiting teachers in
northeastern Colorado. Rocky Mountain BEST is also talking with teachers from other areas in  Colorado.
Of the 22 signed up schools listed in the table below, the schools 
marked with a * are new to BEST.
We will continue to sign up schools through August with a waiting list once we fill our available slots.  Please ask any interested schools to contact Jose Lopez at jlopez@rmbest.org  for Rocky Mountain BEST, 
GP BEST Logo Soon
Tami Kirkland at Tami.Kirkland@frontrangebest.org   for  Front Range BEST, Debbie Ulibarri  at  Debbie.Ulibarri@trinidadstate.edu   for SoCo@TrinidadState BEST, and Larry Turner at larryturner08@yahoo.com  for the new Golden Plains BEST.

ROCKY MOUNTAIN BEST SIGNED UP SCHOOLS as of 30 May 2016
School District/City
Abraham Lincoln High School * Denver
Bishop Machebeuf High School Denver
Broomfield High School Boulder Valley
Columbine Middle School * Montrose
Denver School of Innovation and Sustainable Design * Denver
DSST Byers Denver
DSST Green Valley Ranch High School Denver
DSST Stapleton High School Denver
High Tech Early College Denver
Hill Middle School * Denver
Innovation Center of the St. Vrain Valley School District St. Vrain Valley
Lake County High School Lake
Manning Middle School Jeffco
Mrachek Middle School Aurora
New Vista High School Boulder Valley
Ralston Valley High School Jeffco
Skinner Middle School Denver
Skyline High School St. Vrain Valley
St. Mary's Academy (Middle School) * Englewood
Thomas Jefferson High School Denver
Walt Clark Middle School * Larimer
Wheat Ridge High School Jeffco

Near Term 2016 BET THE FARM Volunteers
Check out the Opportunities to Join in the Fun this Spring!
 
In the table below are several opportunities to help bring BEST Robotics to the Denver metro area. 
Look for more information in the coming months on ways to help build the game field this summer. In July, we'll be identifying the many volunteer positions for the September and October events. No experience required.

P lease save 3 September, 8 October and 15 October for volunteering at the fall events.
Volunteer Position
Position Details
Rocky Mtn BEST Monday Kit Team Currently finishing
refurbishment of tested 2015 kits to prepare for 2016 kit distribution. Beginning to prepare materials for July Teacher / Mentor Institute. 

Most Mondays ~10 AM - 3 PM with a lunch break at a local restaurant. 
999 Vallejo St #2 (Unit 34) in Denver near I-25 and 8th Avenue.
Contact Carolyn at  cbauer@rmbest.org for more information.  We can  always use an extra hand and no experience or specific skill is needed.
Front Range BEST Hub Volunteers -  The Front Range BEST hub needs volunteers to help with the competition in the southwestern portion of the  Metro Denver area.
Primary Activities are May - October.
Please contact Tami Kirkland at  Tami.Kirkland@frontrangebest.org if you, friends, or family are interested in joining in the fun with this great group. No prior BEST robotics experience required.
Rocky Mtn BEST Hub Awards and Judging Lead - this position  
coordinates all the Award and Judging activities including: training for student teams and judging volunteers; arranging for judging leads and judging volunteers to fill the judging slots for Game Day; and procuring Student Team Awards. If
you know someone to share this responsibility, co-leads are permitted.

Primary Activities are May - October.
Volunteer is able to determine  schedule with attendance at Game Day on 15 October required. 
Effort is estimated as approximately 4 hours per week.
Contact  Linda.King@bestinc.org  if you are interested in learning more about this position.
All the subcommittee positions have excellent leads in place to support Awards and Judging Lead. Prior experience as a BEST volunteer helpful - especially in judging - but it is not required.

ADDITIONAL WAYS TO CONTRIBUTE
Benevity -
 If your company has gift matching through Benevity, Rocky Mountain BEST is one of the eligible non-profit organizations. Please check with your company about gift matching!
Kroger Gift Card - If you have a Rocky Mountain BEST King Soopers Gift Card, Kroger will donate 5% of EVERY gift card purchase -- including card refills -- to Rocky Mountain BEST... all at no cost to you -- FOREVER! Everyone needs groceries and gas. Remember to use your Rocky Mountain BEST Gift card to benefit Rocky Mountain BEST. It's really easy.  Since 1 Oct 2015, Kroger has donated over $1450 to Rocky Mountain BEST because of purchases from one of our cards! Interested?   Contact Lois Walton at walton@rmbest.org  to make arrangements to purchase a card. 
Amazon Smile -
Amazon will donate 0.5% of the price of your eligible AmazonSmile purchases to Rocky Mountain BEST whenever you shop on AmazonSmile.
AmazonSmile is the same Amazon you know. Same products, same prices, same service.
 
 
Donations - Finally, you can also donate to Rocky Mountain BEST at Rocky Mountain BEST at ColoradoGives.org


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