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! 
BEST Game Timeline
  BEST Game Timeline
BOOSTING BEST Fundraiser A Fun Success
We were thrilled to host 90 supporters of the Rocky Mountain BEST Hub and 2016 Boost the Front Range BEST Hub at our 25 February fundraiser. It was a fun evening with hors d'oeuvres, a silent auction, wine tasting, dessert with cooking demonstration by Chef Greg Boynton of Haute Touch Cuisine. We were thrilled to have the DSST Byers Middle School  and STEM Academy students attend with their team robots.
Our sincere thanks to everyone who brought their friends and family to get a taste of BEST!  With our generous matching donor, we raised approximately $23,000 for both hubs to purchase robotics electronics and parts, awards, student lunches, and other expenses to host the 2016 competitions. 
2016 Boost

Thanks to our BOOSTING BEST  Donors
Thanks to all the donors who helped make the fundraiser a success:
Academy of Lifelong Learning, American Furniture Warehouse, Angela Engleman, Augustine Grill Restaurant, Beaber Family Orthodontics, Body Heal Thyself Massage Therapy, Caboose Hobbies, Carolyn Bauer, Chocolate Therapist, Chuck & Don's, Disneyland, El Tejado Mexican Restaurants, Ellen Chilikas, Enstrom Toffee & Confectionery, Gary Pratt, Hannah Rottman, Home Depot, Idea Paint, iRobot, John & Beverly Nussbaumer, Jojo deBeaubien, Kaladi Coffee Roasters, La Fogata, Linda Southworth, Lucile's Creole Café, New York Deli News, North Pole, One World Dive and Travel, Papa Murphy's Pizza, Patty Gaspar, Pink Fog Studios, Sabina Kilpatrick. Salty Rita's, Savory Spice, Serioz Restaurant, Shannon Ragland, Snooze, An A.M. Eatery, Stanley Gudder, Swallow Hill Music , The Bagel Deli, The Hornet Restaurant, The Noerr Programs Corporation, Whole Foods, Winter Park Resort, and Yanni's Restaurant
Special thanks to Builders Appliance Center for the use of their excellent facility. 

 
 

2013 Spotlight Graphic Spotlight on Boosting BEST Volunteers
WOW! A wonderful partnership by Rocky Mountain BEST  and Front Range BEST volunteers created our highly successful fundraiser. 
2016 Boost  Thanks to our team who volunteered 2016 Boostmany hours of their time to make it all possible: Carolyn Bauer,  JoAnne Fry, Patty Gaspar, Kathy & August Geise, Phil Hardy, Linda & Mike King, Dianne Larsen, Lori Lazuk, Larry Malik, John 2016 BoostNussbaumer, Lois Walton, and Barb Watry. 
2016 Boost
 
2016 Volunteer Opportunities
RM BEST Monday Kit Team: The Kit Team is counting, testing, and cleaning returned 2015 kits to prepare for 2016 kit activities and labeling Best Buy Foundation grant kits in our workshop. They meet most Mondays at 999 Vallejo St #2 (Unit 34) in Denver near I-25 and 8th Avenue from 10 AM - 3 PM with a lunch break at a local restaurant. They can always use an extra hand and no experience or specific skill is needed. If interested, please contact Carolyn at  cbauer@rockymountainbest.org for more information.
Rocky Mtn BEST Hub Awards and Judging Lead (May - November): 
The Awards and Judging Lead 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 Practice and Game Day, and procuring Student Team Awards. We estimate the effort required is ~4 hours per week. Please contact me at Linda.King@bestinc.org if you are interested in learning more about this position. All the subcommittee positions have excellent leads in place.
Front Range BEST Hub Volunteers (May - October): The Front Range BEST hub needs volunteers to help their Hub Development in Douglas County. Please contact Tami Kirkland at Tami.Kirkland@frontrangebest.org , if you, friends, or family are interested in working with this great group bringing another BEST competition to the Metro Denver area.

2016 Game BET THE FARM
To Challenge and Inspire Student Teams!
Rocky Mountain BEST has tentatively established the dates for our fall competition events. Please save the event dates to be able to volunteer or attend these events.

Kickoff - Game revealed, student and teacher  / mentor training and protobot demo.
By invitation:  Student teams and Teachers/ Mentors
Saturday, 3 September
(Labor Day Weekend)
Noon - 4 PM
Venue - To be determined

Practice Day - Time for student teams to practice with robot on 4 quadrant game field.
Competing Teams and open to the public
Saturday, 8 October
9 AM - 3 PM
Venue - To be determined
Game Day - Student teams compete for awards on 4 quadrant game field.
Competing Teams and open to the public
Saturday, 15 October
7 AM - 5:00 PM
Metro State University of Denver Auraria Event Center

Our volunteers leading the work on preparing for our BET THE FARM games are excitedly awaiting the early March release of draft rules. These volunteers will learn more about this year's game during the March BEST Robotics Inc. (BRI) national organization Prototype Kickoff video presentations and later at the BRI April Prototype Game Weekend in Wichita, Kansas. 
  
 
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.

Our national BEST Robotics Inc. (BRI) has released a Game Teaser Video for this year's Game - BET THE FARM. This year's game teaser is now available on YouTube at:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nx7TeeGObHw
 

  2016 BET THE FARM bESTology Announced 
14 Sets of Weekly Activities Posted Each Sunday Starting 24 January
 
What is bESTology?  

bESTology is the study of Engineering, Science and Technology. Students are encouraged to become bESTologists!  
  
A harvest of weekly activities are unveiled each Sunday @ 5:00 p.m. MT. 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. 
 
 
INTRODUCING BEST ROBOTICS TO COLORADO - MARCH / APRIL

Visit with RM BEST Executive Director and Metropolitan State University of Denver Lecturer, Jose Lopez, at Aerospace Day at the Colorado State Capitol  on Monday, March 21, from   9 am - 6 pm. Stay all day or stop in for part of the day to talk with Jose and other people in the aerospace industry and education throughout Colorado. The event is hosted by the Colorado Space Business Roundtable (CSBR), the Colorado Space Coalition (CSC), Citizens for Space Exploration (CSE), and the Aerospace States' Association (ASA).   More information at this link. 
  
On Sunday, April 10, from noon - 4pm, adults and youth can attend Aerobotics at the Wings Over the Rockies Museum.  Formerly known as RATH (Robotics At The Hangar), the event merges aerospace and robotics into Aerobotics! Rocky Mountain BEST has tentatively scheduled a hands-on activity for kids (Binary Bead Jewelry) and robot demonstrations by students using last year's robots and game field. There will be lots of activities to be enjoyed! We hope you can attend and visit with us at the RM BEST table. Aerobotics information at this link
MULTIPLE WAYS TO HELP BRING ROBOTICSCOMPETION  TO DENVER!

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!
 
If you have a Rocky Mountain BEST King Soopers Gift Card, King Soopers 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.  Interested?   Contact Lois Walton at lwalton@rockymountainbest.org  to make arrangements to purchase a card. 
 
You can also donate to Rocky Mountain BEST at Rocky Mountain BEST at ColoradoGives.org.
 
 
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.
 
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