Pre-Season Teacher Training Session

Today teachers from across Jackson and DeKalb Counties came together to dip their toes into the ocean that we call BEST, and to learn what they can do to prepare their students for the upcoming BEST season.

Northeast Alabama BEST Hub Co-Directors Mike Kennamer and Nicole Carroll discussed The 42 Days of BEST and Getting a Head Start on BEST 2012, respectively. Robin Fenton, of Friends of BEST in Alabama, joined in via webinar and discussed rules, scoring, and software options.

Participants pose for a post-workshop photo.

The following schools participated in the workshop:

• Fort Payne Middle (Nira Jones, Suzanne Camp)
• Fort Payne High (Brian Jett, Dan Grogham, Jackie Jennings)
• Ider (Sharlyn Huber)
• North Sand Mountain (Labron Anderton, Shelly Grant)
• Woodville (Joey Swinford)

Steering Committee members Sherry Whitten, Ronny Kisor, and Chris Anderson also attended, as did Northeast Alabama Community College career coaches Debbie Wooten and Whitney Clark. More training is scheduled for Kick Off Day, which will be September 15 at NACC. Schools interested in participating in BEST should contact Nicole Carroll (carrolln@nacc.edu) at 256-228-6001, ext. 2254. 

Great New Resource!

Some of our BEST Friends, Friends of BEST in Alabama, have launched a new website that will be a great resource for all teams and teachers. Here is their description of the site:

We are excited to announce that the Friends of BEST Resource Center is live: http://www.friendsofbest.org

This site is a “living breathing” site that updates daily and connects with social media. The front page has a few static documents but the links for students, teachers mentors/volunteers, career connections and news will update daily as well as Photo of the Day and Word of the Day. Our goal is for visitors to Tweet, Facebook or other social media about the videos, news stories, etc….with the ultimate goal of learning while having fun.

This site is a blog site, very similar to www.al.com - they blog news stories, we will blog about BEST.

You can search for topics at the top of the page or use the tag cloud on the right side of each page. The larger the tags (words) in the tag cloud the more information posted about the subject.

Please take the opportunity to learn from others who have "been there, done that"! Thanks to Robin, Elizabeth, Janis and Kellie for sharing these resources with us!

Save The Date! Pre-Season Teacher Workshop

BEST Teachers! Mark your calendars for Tuesday, August 7 as Northeast Alabama BEST Robotics will sponsor a pre-season training event for teachers. During this session, teachers will receive a headstart on preparing for the 2012 BEST season, covering such topics as:

• BEST Team Structure, Marketing and Exhibits
• General Rules (Specific game rules will be covered at the September 15 kickoff event)
• and more

This session will provide teachers with the tools they need to be ready to hit the ground running on kickoff day. For more information or to register, contact Nicole Carroll via email or at 256-228-6001, ext. 2254.

2011 South's BEST Champs Honored

The team from Davidson High School in Mobile was recently honored at the Alabama Manufacturer of the Year awards, held in Montgomery. Northeast Alabama BEST Steering Committee member Ronny Kisor attended the function and took this photo of the Davidson team's robot.

We look forward to having teams from our area competing for these honors this year. Want to learn more about how you can set up a team? Contact Nicole Carroll at carrolln@nacc.edu.

ILT 180 Dual Enrollment Class Begins

The ILT 180 - Special Topics in Industrial Electronics dual enrollment class has begun. Students in this class, taught by Dennis Lester, will work through some of the basic skills needed to build a robot this summer. These students are learning critical skills while earning 3 hours of college credit that is applicable toward a degree in Industrial Electronics or Industrial Systems Technology.

In this photo, students are learning precision measurement principles.

Schools interested in participating in BEST Robotics for the fall should contact Nicole Carroll at 256-228-6001, ext. 2254.

Summer Dual Enrollment Class Teaches BEST Principles

The 11 students enrolled in ILT 180 - Special Topics in Industrial Electronics at Northeast Alabama Community College this summer are getting a taste of various components of BEST Robotics. Dennis Lester, who is teaching the course, plans to have students to design and prototype various parts of a robot over the summer. While students do not know what the game this year will look like, Mr. Lester is using rules from last year to help them to design and build wheels, arms, and other common components. The parts they will build will be controlled with a VEX controller--the same controller used for the competition in the Fall.

Look for more information about this class and its students coming soon!

NACC Instructors Attend Workshop

Two NACC instructors recently attended a Train the Trainer Technical Workshop at Auburn University. Deni Adkins, instructor of Engineering Technology, and Dennis Lester, instructor of Industrial Electronics and Industrial Maintenance, participated in the course sponsored by BEST in Alabama. The three-day program provided hands-on training in the operation and use of VEX-BEST equipment and easyC programming software.

Both instructors came back energized and prepared to lead student and teacher workshops in the Fall.