Volume 2018-07| July 2018
Rocky Mountain BEST Volunteer Newsletter
Counting down until we kickoff the season!
~ 45 Days
Please save 15 September , 20 October and 27 October on your calendars to ensure you'll be part of making our 2018 competition successful.
And also save 8 and 9 December for our 2nd annual Denver BEST Regional Competition.
2018 Competition - Save the Dates!
Middle and High Schools Signed Up for 2018
1. Abraham Lincoln High School - Denver
2. Aurora Frontier P-8 - Aurora
3. Aurora Quest - Aurora
4. Bishop Machebeuf High School - Denver Private
5. Broomfield High School - Boulder Valley
6. Columbine Middle School - Montrose
7. Denver School of Innovation and Sustainable Design - Denver
8. DSST Byers – Denver
9. DSST Stapleton High School - Denver
10. East Middle School - Aurora
11. Gateway High School - Aurora
12. Heath Middle School – Greeley
13. Kennedy High School - Denver
14. Monarch High School - Boulder Valley
15. Montrose High School NJROTC * - Montrose
16. Mrachek Middle School - Aurora
17. New Vista High School - Boulder Valley
18. North Middle School - Aurora
19. Sacred Heart of Jesus School* - Boulder Private
20. Skinner Middle School - Denver
21. Skyline High School - St. Vrain Valley
22. St. Mary’s Academy Middle School – Englewood Private
23. STRIVE Prep – RISE - Denver
24. Thomas Jefferson High School - Denver
25. West Middle School - Cherry Creek
26. Westgate Community School - Adams 12
27. Westminster High School * - Westminster

* Rookie Teams in 2018

INTERESTED SCHOOLS? Please ask the teacher to send an email to: Linda.King@bestinc.org. We will have a wait list once we fill all 29 slots.
OUR THANKS to MSU Denver AND Denver Public Schools (DPS) Charter School STRIVE Prep: RISE for the use of their facilities in 2018.
Schedule
  • Kickoff: 15 September at DPS School STRIVE Prep: RISE near Tower Road and 51st Avenue
  • Practice Day: 20 October at DPS School STRIVE Prep: RISE near Tower Road and 51st Avenue
  • Game Day: 27 October at MSU Denver Auraria Event Center
  • Regional Championship: 8-9 December at MSU Denver Auraria Event Center
Click the above CURRENT EVENTS Game Logo graphic to view the 90 second game teaser video.
Current Volunteer Opportunities
Fall Event Volunteer
STAY TUNED. We will start posting our Fall Event volunteer needs in our August newsletter. Please save the dates.

Monday Kit Team Volunteers Wanted
We are working most Monday's at 10 AM at our workshop located at 781 Vallejo in Denver.
No experience needed and extra hands are always helpful.
Please email Carolyn Bauer at cbauer@rmbest.org if you are interested in working on the Monday Kit Team to get on the email list. OUR thanks to Gary Pratt, Judith Schlesinger, Angie Matthias, Patty Gaspar, Carolyn Bauer, Elwyn Allyn, JoAnne Fry, & Lori Lazuk. The team is close to finalizing the kits with Packing Day approaching at the end of August. Join the team!
 
Game Field Volunteers Wanted
We still need volunteers this summer to help with these remaining 2018 Current Events Game Field tasks:
  1. Assemble and Paint the field components,
  2. Collect game pieces for the 2018 game.

Please email me at Linda.King@bestinc.org if you want to help the game field team. 

Main requirement – Ability to keep a secret! The game and field are confidential until the game reveal at Kickoff in September. We'll match your skills to the tasks.

Below is the Game Field schedule. Many tasks have flexible schedules or are on weekends.
  • TBD Late - August: Assemblers needed at the Workshop to assemble the game field. 
  • TBD Late - August: Painters to paint the game field and the game pieces.
  • July-September - flexible schedule: Collectors needed to bring in about 70 game pieces that are common household recycling items. Contact me at Linda.King@bestinc.org if you are interested in collecting items from your recycling for our use.

Thank you to all the volunteers who helped cut the game field materials on 20 July and to the volunteers now working on building their part of the game field.
2017 Regional Vol
2017 Regional Vol
2013 Game Field
Example Game Field from 2013



We ALSO have openings on our Steering Team planning our 2018 season and on our Board of Directors growing our organization.
WOW! Successful New 3-Day Colorado Teachers / Mentors Training!
A snapshot of our new 3-day hands-on teacher and mentor training.
  • Months of preparation by our TMI team volunteers to prepare the 20 hours of training.
  • Fifteen teachers / mentors participated from across Colorado including Montrose, Ellicott, Haxtun. And participation by Phoenix, AZ teacher working to expand BEST into Arizona.
  • Option of 2.0 Continuing Education Unit credit to qualifying teachers.
  • Enhanced training with Dallas BEST volunteer Joel Graber's participation in the chart creation and training.
  • Student panel insight with 2 students from STEM School and 2 from Ralston Valley High School.

Thanks to all the volunteers that made it possible: Front Range BEST: Tami Kirkland, Megan Hawthorn, Sue Hardy and Phil Hardy. Dallas BEST: Joel Graber. Rocky Mtn BEST: Kevin Barrett, Carolyn Bauer, JoAnne Fry, Linda & Mike King, Lori Lazuk, Jose Lopez, Judith Schlesinger, Ben & Kayla Straub, Lois Walton. Pikes Peak BEST: Kat Baker.
2018 TMI Teachers and Robots
2018 Teachers / Mentors with their TMI Built Robots




Thanks to the MSU Denver Department of Aviation and Aerospace Science for their facilities at the Seventh Street Classroom Building and the support from Josh Noel and Alex Toussaint.
Reaching Out in Colorado - Upcoming September Events!
On Saturday, September 22, EVERYONE is invited to attend Energy Day Colorado Festival at Denver's East High School from 11 AM until 4 PM. It is a FREE event for families. Kids will have interactive activities to try, there will be booths, Joel Noble and his students from East High School will feature FIRST activities on the football field, BEST will have the robot from the Pay Dirt game (involving mining and economics) for people to drive, and CBS news will be there as well! So join us for a day on the Esplanade and football field for learning about Energy in Colorado.
Aurora Public Schools (APS) will once again hold a Career Trek for ALL eighth graders in the district on September 27 & 28. Rocky Mountain BEST will join other groups on one of the days to encourage students to gain skills in STEM since BEST develops many work place skills to be used in STEM-based careers. And BEST offers a fun and hands-on experience in STEM activities. Kudos to APS for organizing the annual Career Trek!!

Anyone interested in helping at an Outreach event may contact Lori Lazuk at  llazuk@rmbest.org . Give three hours of your time (or more!) to help promote BEST in the community at any event.  Help is always appreciated.
"Thank you for supporting us! We'd have nothing without it!"
Verizon Foundation awarded Rocky Mountain BEST a grant in 2017 that we used to provide approximately $200 to 24 of the 73 schools competing in Colorado based on their Free and Reduced Lunch (FRL) program. The average percentage in FRL across these schools was 68% of the school population participating in the program. We are excited to be applying again in 2018 for another grant.

Teachers Impact Descriptions
  1. School Funding Obstacles: "Our BEST Robotics bid is completely extra-curricular and receives no funding from the school. Many of the students involved have limited means and the support of the Verizon Grant means that they can have an experience comparable to that of more privileged students."
  2. Tools Challenge: "Because we were able to purchase these tools, we were able to get a design created and assembled. Up until this point, we were stuck without these tools." "We needed a nice drill set and a tap and dye to build the robot. Instead of transporting the team to another school for every tiny tool need, we were able to buy those things to use at our own space."
  3. T-shirts = Team: "This year we wanted to have a dedicated "Robotics Club" shirt. Not only will these new shirts help unify our team presence at the BEST Competition, they will also be "walking billboards" for the next group of students I will have on the Robotics team next year!." "... our kids worked SO hard and having team t-shirts that they can wear to school will make them so proud to be part of this team and hopefully help build excitement for other kids to join next year."
  4. Food Increases Participation: "The students reach their full potential when they are full." "We have a chance to buy food for the kids and motivate them to stay in the program."
2017 Champ Lincoln HS - Verizon
Denver Public Schools Abraham Lincoln HS Grant Recipient
Abraham Lincoln HS was one of 24 schools from across from Colorado receiving a portion of the 2017 Verizon Foundation Grant. Their school competed at the Rocky Mtn BEST hub competition and also qualified to compete at the Denver BEST Regional Championship. From their teacher Elaine Giromini: The money was used to purchase team t-shirts which help my team feel united. ... Several of my students put the shirts on as soon as we received them and I see them wearing the shirt on non team competition days.
Great Elitch Offer for a Great Cause! NOW Available
Help us obtain a donation to support our efforts to bring a robotics competition that is FREE to schools AND enjoy Elitch Gardens at a great discount!!

One Day Admission only $29.99 
Regular main gate price is $59.99 and $39.99 on-line
2018 Fun Four Pack only $139.96
Save OVER 50% off main gate price!
Includes four daily admission ticket to Elitch Gardens Theme and Water Park, four meal deals and one daily parking pass.
Click Elitch Gardens Graphic to access the RM BEST Discount website to Purchase, Print and Play.
Other Ways to Participate by Donating
Donations 
You can donate ANYTIME at  Rocky Mountain BEST at ColoradoGives.org.  So far for 2018, we received over $ 9,711 thanks to all our generous donors.
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/City Market Gift Card, Kroger donates 5% of EVERY gift card purchase at any Kroger Store -- including card refills -- to Rocky Mountain BEST... all at no cost to you -- FOREVER! So far for 2018, we received over $ 1,133 thanks to all the card users.  Contact Lois at lwalton@rmbest.org   to make arrangements to purchase a card and help increase the value we received. 
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. AND we've received $252 in contributions from your purchases thru May 2018.
Wondering what to do with your used car or truck? 
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. 
Rocky Mountain BEST Robotics | 303-351-BEST (303-351-2378)
Build a robot in six weeks;
inspire a youth for a lifetime
Don't miss out making it possible!