Outreach
2011 South’s BEST Robotics Championship continued
“Our students stepped up to the
challenge, and they are responsible for
every single thing we brought to the
South’s BEST competition,” Harris
said. “They had the self-determination,
discipline and drive to see it through,
and we didn’t lose a single student who
originally signed up to take part in
BEST.”
Twenty-seven students, from grades
eighth through twelve, participated on
the Hope Academy BEST Robotics
team, representing 67 percent of students
in this age group. The team at Hope
Academy utilized a business concept to
oversee the development of the various
categories for the competition including
spirit, engineering, assembly, design,
marketing, exhibit, web design, and
robot. They gave their team a company
name, Hope Environmental Protection
Incorporated, and nominated two CEOs
to oversee the development of the
engineering and marketing aspects of
the competition: Jacob
Jackson was the CEO
for engineering and
Abbie Taylor was the
CEO for marketing.
Additionally, two
teachers from Hope
Academy worked
extensively with the
BEST Robotics team,
offering guidance and
also stepping back to
allow the students to
have full control over
the process. Diane
Rogers, a mathematics
teacher, served as mentor
for the engineering
side of the program,
while Sandra Hobbs,
an English teacher,
served as mentor for the
marketing aspects of the
competition.
The mentors listed
numerous skills participants gained that will serve them later in life as
they look for jobs and begin their careers. For example, participation
has taught them the importance of being able to work well within a
group, how to dress at a presentation or job interview, how to budget,
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Journey/2012
and how to problem solve and think outside the box. Students also
gained invaluable knowledge on new and innovative technologies and
benefited from the first-hand experience of industry leaders who were
brought in as additional mentors.
Participation in BEST Robotics even prompted a change in the
curriculum at Hope Academy. Beginning in 2012, the school will
offer a class in CAD drawing and a class in programming so that
next year, as students once again participate in BEST Robotics, they
will not experience such a large learning curve when designing and
programming their robot. Administrators believe these skills will also
benefit students as they make decisions about going to college and
joining the workforce.
Although this was the first year Hope Academy participated
in the BEST Robotics competition, the team challenged many
veteran schools at the local and national levels. They won numerous
team awards at the Central Alabama BEST regional competition
including: second place, BEST Award; first place, BEST Spirit and
Sportsmanship Award; and second place, Founders Award for Creative
Design.
It was because of their exceptional showing at the regional
competition that Hope Academy was invited to South’s BEST.
Although they were newcomers to the competition, out of 50 teams
present, Hope Academy advanced to the top 16, semi-final round of
the robotics competition. Their robot narrowly missed securing a spot
in the final round.
For more information on Hope Academy, visit this link: http://
www.phfc.org/.
For more information on the Hope Academy BEST Robotics
team, visit the team website at www.hopebestrobotics.com.