Summer ILT 180 Class in the News

Involved in the BEST Robotics prep course were (L-R, standing) Northeast IST/ILT Instructors Gary Hulslander and Dennis Lester; students Alejandro Orozco and Katie Dean from Fort Payne, and Collin Andrews from Geraldine; (seated) students Garrett Hall from Plainview, and Connor Blevins, Josh Simpson, Hayden Tilley and Sawyer Haney from Ider.

This article was written by Sherry Whitten and published in local newspapers:

DeKalb, Jackson and Marshall County students have the  opportunity to compete in a robotics competition this upcoming October. The competition is through the BEST Robotics program: Boosting Engineering Science and Technology. BEST is a national program  which inspires students to pursue careers in engineering, science, technology, and mathematics through participation in a sports-like science- and engineering-based robotics projects. Students in Grades 5-12 may compete.

Northeast Alabama Community College is serving as the district hub for the BEST program. “We are very pleased to help organize and sponsor the BEST Robotics competition,” stated Dr. David Campbell, NACC President. “As a college we want to encourage students to go into these science and technology fields and being a partner with local schools is a way to accomplish this. We at Northeast are emphasizing these careers and in fact soon will begin construction on a new mathematics, science, and engineering technician building on campus.”

Workforce Development Director Mike Kennamer is the Northeast Alabama BEST Robotics Hub Director. “We encourage schools to contact the district hub and create a team for the competition.” Kennamer noted that the BEST Steering Committee members are local business and industry representatives who see the impact the program can have long-term on the area and the future of the northeast Alabama workforce.

This past summer, local high school students participated in a BEST Robotics Prep Course. The students earned dual enrollment college credit and received training to prepare for the BEST Robotics competition. Topics covered include basic safety, basic DC electronics, servo motors, materials selection, mechanical principles, problem solving and engineering processes. Dr. Campbell stated, “We were pleased to provide this course for the dual enrollment students this summer taught by Industrial Systems and Industrial Electronics Instructor Dennis Lester.”

The Northeast Alabama BEST Robotics Kick-off Day is scheduled for Saturday, September 15 in the NACC Lyceum. The actual competition is scheduled for Saturday, October 27. Local winners will advance to the regional competition at Auburn University in December.

Dr. Kennamer stated that the Northeast Alabama BEST needs volunteers, mentors and businesses to become involved and that assistance from the community greatly will be appreciated. The Northeast Alabama BEST program initially was funded through state workforce grants and financial support from Northeast, including NACC personnel who are working with the project.

For additional information, please contact Dr. Mike Kennamer at college extension 2291, or email kennamerm@nacc.edu. For additional college information, go to www.nacc.edu or download our free App at the Apple App Store or by going to www.naccmobile.com.

Northeast Alabama BEST Prepares for Kickoff

NASA file photo

Northeast Alabama BEST Robotics is gearing up for its first kickoff day! Scheduled for September 15, 2012, the kickoff will include an exciting introduction to the game, an opportunity to view and measure the playing field, and a variety of educational sessions.

"We are excited for our first kick-off," stated Mike Kennamer, hub co-director. "By playing off the space theme this year, we could consider this a blast off for this year's BEST season."

Training sessions will include the following:

• Building Your BEST Business - Team Structure, Marketing and Exhibits
• Team Decision Making - the BEST Planning Method
• Preparing for Launch - Basic Steps in Building Your Robot
• Warp XX Rules Overview and Q&A
• Kit Orientation and Pickup
• Team Resources
• Developing Your Project Engineering Notebook
• and more...

 Mark your calendars for the Northeast Alabama BEST Launch Party and Kick-Off Event:

• Saturday, September 15, 2012
• Tom Bevill Lyceum - Northeast Alabama Community College campus
• 9:00 am - 3:00 pm 

 ...At this time the captain has turned on the Fasten Seat Belt sign. Please take your seat and fasten your seat belt. Also make sure your seat back and folding trays are in the full upright position...

And prepare to launch into an exciting and rewarding BEST season!

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and Twitter: https://twitter.com/NortheastALBEST. 

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.