North Texas BEST Robotics Volunteer Mentors Needed

The 2014 BEST (Boosting Engineering, Science, and Technology) Robotics Competition, with this year’s theme name: “Blade Runner”, is now organizing high school teams in the north Texas and other regions. We are looking for volunteers to work with student teams during the 6 week design/build/test/compete phases. No experience is necessary and training and other resources are provided (*see below*). The time commitment is a minimum of one meeting with the team each week, and more contact would be preferred. Local events are loosely organized by county with top teams from each local “hub” advancing to the regional competition.

Here are the dates and locations of the various events with web links for more details:

CoCo BEST (Collin County, www.cocobest.net)
Kickoff: Sept 6 (Princeton High School)
Competition: Oct 18 (Allen High School)
contact: Janne Ackerman janne.ackerman@bestinc.org

Dallas BEST (Dallas County, http://www.dallas-best.org)
Kickoff: Sept 6 (JJ Pearce High School, Richardson)
Competition: Oct 18 (Eastfield College, Mesquite)
contact: Jon Spangler 972-344-8057 j-spangler@raytheon.com

Lion’s Pride BEST (Hunt County, https://www.facebook.com/LionsPrideBEST)
Kickoff: Sept 13 (Commerce ISD Admin building)
Competition: Oct 25 (TAMU-Commerce Field House)

Cowtown BEST (Tarrant County, http://www.cowtownbest.org)
Kickoff: Sept 13 (Haltom High School, Haltom City)
Competition: Oct 25 (Haltom High School, Haltom City)
contact: director@cowtownbest.org

For more information about the competition, go to any of the above websites or the national website at http://www.bestinc.org/

To volunteer or for more information use the contacts given above, or go to your preferred BEST “hub” website and contact the volunteer coordinator listed there.

You’ll be surprised at what these young folks can do, but they need your help to succeed. We look forward to hearing from you!