Volume 2020-07 | July 2020
Rocky Mountain BEST Volunteer Newsletter
How to help BEST make a difference
in the lives of Colorado students
Outbreak ONLINE Fall Competition
We are introducing our plans to bring the new 2020 Outbreak game as an  ONLINE  competition to schools this fall.
We are in the process of making detailed plans for this new type of competition that is being developed by our national BEST organization.
  • Plans will include volunteer tasks and schedules for late October and November activities.
  • We will need volunteers to fill the ONLINE judging positions highlighted in red text in the table below. We hope there might be a match for you.
  • We will provide instructions on how to register as a volunteer on the BEST Robotics National Registry tool.
  • Look for more details in the August newsletter.

Outbreak Online 9-Week Competition: 19 September - 22 November 2020

  • No physical contact is required by the teams or volunteers.
  • No game field or robot returnable / and consumable kits are to be provided as no physical robot is built.
  • Competition Start is 19 September 2020 - A virtual Kickoff event to describe the Outbreak game and additional details of the components of the competition will occur.
  • Competition End is 22 November 2020 - We have extended the end the competition to provide more schedule flexibility for the teams and permit scheduling of online judging.

The participating teams will:

  1. Design a robot to play the Outbreak game based on provided game rules. Student design steps are expected to include problem definition, concept exploration and selection, analysis and prototyping and detailed design. No robot is constructed but the following type of robot design products are expected to be produced: a computer simulation, drawing prototype, or cardboard mock up.
  2. Document their design in a Critical Design Review presentation.
  3. Document their engineering design process and other standard Engineering Notebook sections in their Engineering Notebook.
  4. Participate in the Programming Challenge Time Trials (Driver Controlled + Autonomous) with a simplified simulated robot they program with Simulink. The simulated robot will score online Outbreak game points using the Simulink Robotics Playground based Outbreak virtual game field provided by BEST. The following 10-minute video link provides a high level overview of what to expect. https://www.mathworks.com/videos/matlab-and-simulink-pass-competitions-hub-getting-started-with-robotics-playground-virtual-worlds-1533569380647.html.
  5. Participate in optional online activities which are identified in the table below. We encourage all interested teams to consider competing in the Marketing Presentation and Virtual Exhibit / Interviews activities. We are evaluating which of the other optional activities we will include in our competition.
SCHOOLS REGISTERED TO COMPETE
We are thrilled to have 21 schools signed up for our fall competition.
1302 Abraham Lincoln HS
1304 Aurora Frontier P-8
1305 Aurora Quest
1306 Bishop Machebeuf HS  
1307 Broomfield HS
1309 DMLK Early College
1310 DSST: Byers
1311 Gateway HS
1312 Good Shepherd School
1315 Most Precious Blood School
1316 Mrachek MS
1318 Our Lady of Fatima School
1319 Pinnacle Charter HS
1322 Skyline HS
1324 St Therese School
1326 STRIVE Prep - RISE
1328 Valley HS
1330 Flagstaff Academy Charter School
1331 Blessed Miguel Pro Catholic Academy
Please share this link if you know a teacher who wants to register for our fall robotics - Register at https://registry.bestrobotics.org/
bESTology 2.0 - the study of Engineering, Science and Technology

Teachers are encouraged to incorporate bESTology into their curriculum, summer camps, enrichment activities and more.
Students find that Knowledge is Power! bESTology teaches the skill sets to be successful in the workplace and in life. bESTology Link
Postings
  • Week 1 - Journey Through the Human Body
  • Week 2 - So just how powerful is our Central Nervous System?
  • Week 3 - Our cardiovascular system is amazing!
  • Week 4 - Breath in…Breath out…
  • Week 5 - Digestive System
  • Week 6 – Skeletal System
  • Week 7 – Muscular System
  • Week 8 – Homeostasis
  • Week 9 - Medical Terminology
  • Week 10 – Microrobotics
  • Week 11 - Surgical Robots
  • Week 12 - Summary
Additional Ways to Contribute
Other Ways to Participate by Donating
Donations 
You can donate ANYTIME at  Rocky Mountain BEST at ColoradoGives.org.
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!
King Soopers/City Market
Thanks to the 15 households who are using their King Soopers / City Market savings cards to donate to Rocky Mountain BEST.
If you used to refill a King Soopers gift cards for us and now need help setting up your savings card, please email  lois.walton@bestinc.org. Lois would be glad to talk you through the quick process!
Amazon Smile
Amazon donates 0.5% of the price of your eligible AmazonSmile purchases to Rocky Mountain BEST whenever you shop on AmazonSmile.
Amazon Smile is the same Amazon you know. Same products, same prices, same service.
Wondering what to do with your used car or truck or boat? 
Donating your old vehicle to ROCKY MOUNTAIN BEST is convenient, easy, and may qualify you for a tax deduction. And best of all, your donation of a used car or truck will make a big difference in supporting ROCKY MOUNTAIN BEST.
Why not donate your vehicle today? All you need to do is to complete our SIMPLE ONLINE FORM or call 1-866-628-2277 and we'll take care of the rest. We will pick up your vehicle, arrange to have your donation towed, and provide you with a tax-deductible receipt, all at no charge to you.
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Build a robot in six weeks;
inspire a youth for a lifetime
Don't miss out making it possible!