BEST 2012 is Underway!

Students, teachers, and mentors from 10 schools gathered at the Tom Bevill Lyceum on the Northeast Alabama Community College campus today to kick off the 2012 BEST season. Photos and videos will be posted in the coming days, but here is a quick look at the excitement generated by this year's Kick Off. 

Next event: Optional Training Day

Saturday, September 22, 2012

8:00 am until noon

NACC Industrial Systems Technology Building 

Workshops will be offered on soldering and wire connections and EasyC. 

Easy C Workshop - Bring a laptop loaded with EasyC if you would like to participate in the EasyC workshop.

Soldering Workshop - Bring your own soldering iron and solder. 

Please RSVP to Nicole Carroll if you plan to attend. 

The Countdown Begins...

Bean Counters

Wow! Can you believe that Kick Off Day is tomorrow? Last December when we started this journey we thought September seemed so far away. But here we are...

Several of our faculty and staff members got together earlier this week to finalize putting together kits. Even medical assisting instructors helped out as we counted 25 of this and 100 of that.

We can't wait to see everyone tomorrow as we kick off BEST 2012!

Bean Counters: (L to R) Marilyn Dalton, Ronny Kisor, Nicole Carroll, Rachel Walker

Cutting Crew: (L to R) Dennis Lester, Will Roberts

Cutting Crew

2012 BEST Teams Announced

Northeast Alabama BEST Robotics is pleased to announce the teams participating 2012:

• Marshall Technical School
• Scottsboro High School
• Woodville High School
• Pisgah High School
• North Jackson High School
• Fort Payne High School
• Ider High School
• Fyffe High School
• North Sand Mountain High School
• DeKalb County Technology Center

We look forward to seeing all these teams at Kick Off on Saturday!

Sponsor Highlight: Berry & Dunn Office Equipment

While the Northeast Alabama BEST Hub is hosted by Northeast Alabama Community College, it receives a significant amount of support from its partner agencies and sponsors. One such sponsor is Berry & Dunn Office Equipment. With locations in Scottsboro, Fort Payne and Rainsville, Berry & Dunn is "your complete one stop office supply and equipment dealer."

We appreciate their support!

NACC Employees Attend Central AL Kickoff

Northeast Alabama BEST staff recently attended the kick off event for Central Alabama BEST Robotics. The visit, which took place on Saturday, September 8 was intended to help Northeast Alabama BEST personnel assure that all systems are go for a September 15 launch of Northeast Alabama BEST Robotics.

Mike Kennamer, Northeast Alabama BEST Hub Co-Director, stated that the Northeast Alabama BEST team wants to make sure that its first Kick Off is one that will be memorable for all involved. "It is so fitting that this year's game has a space theme," stated Kennamer. "We feel like we are preparing for a launch around here."

NACC employees Debbie Wooten, Nicole Carroll, and Sherry
Whitten strategize about the upcoming Kick Off event. 

The past two weeks have been busy ones making last minute preparations for Kick Off, including purchasing supplies for the consumable kits and putting together the show for next Saturday.

Attending the Kick Off event at the Central Alabama hub gave hub leaders an opportunity to shadow another hub and to learn how they run their Kick Off event. Like the Central Alabama event, the Northeast Alabama event will be high energy and fast paced. Central Alabama BEST Robotics is hosted by Central Alabama Community College and supported by a number of local sponsors.

"So far nine teams have officially registered on Robot Events," stated Nicole Carroll, Northeast Alabama BEST Robotics Hub Director, who attended the Central Alabama event last Saturday. "We have room for 12 teams, so the next three that sign up will be able to compete this year," said Carroll.

Besides Carroll, others attending the Central Alabama event on Saturday were Sherry Whitten, Debbie Wooten, Dennis Lester, and Mike Kennamer.

Returnable Kits Prepared

Here's a sneak peek at one of our returnable kits. Each team will receive one of these, as well as all the consumable supplies, on Kick Off Day. It's just over a week away, and we are excited and preparing for a fun-filled Kick Off.

Teams should be sure that they sign up on Robot Events. We only have 12 slots  available for this year; registrations are taken on a first-come, first-served basis. If you have not yet signed up on Robot Events, please do so and contact Nicole Carroll to assure that your registration has been received.

Get ready for the countdown...

Robot Events Registration

It has come to our attention that there was a problem with registration in Robot Events where some teams were unable to register. That issue has been corrected. Please register your team at www.robotevents.com this week and follow up with Nicole Carroll (carrolln@nacc.edu) to confirm your registration.