Homeschool teams dominate BEST robotics

Editor’s note: At the end of this report are posted several photos of the Saturday robotics competition.

The 2010 Frontier Trails BEST Regional Robotics Competition was dominated by homeschoolers, with Wichita Home School taking the top honors in an event that drew 38 robotics teams from eight states to Fort Smith for the three-day competition.

John Martini, assistant professor at the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith and director of the competition, estimated that up to 900 students and their family and friends participated in the regional event that drew teams from Arkansas, Colorado, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, North Dakota, Oklahoma and South Dakota. The teams competed Saturday (Dec. 11) in the Stubblefield Center on the UAFS campus.

Each team designs and operates its own robot with a kit supplied for the task, using this year’s theme, "Total Recall." The robotics competitions are held around the nation under the BEST heading, which stands for Boosting Engineering, Science and Technology. The competition started in 1994, and UA Fort Smith has participated since 2003.

The teams are given points in several categories, with the highest-level award, the BEST Award, going to the top overall team that most embodies the concept of BEST. An award is also given to the team scoring highest in the robot portion of the event. Other awards are given for notebooks, table displays, interview, Web page designs, T-shirt designs and spirit and sportsmanship.

Wichita Home School students took first, with OKC Homeschool in second and the Metro Homeschool in third. In the robot competition, Wichita captured top honors, with Kittson Central High School (Hallock, Minn.) in second, and Ambassadors for Christ Academy (Bentonville) in third. (Link here for the complete competition results.)

Martini said the nationwide BEST program has a larger goal of exposing high schools students to technology, automation, engineering and other skills.

“The only way our country can ever be successful, is to increase our workforce skills in this type of technology and automation … especially as it applies to manufacturing,” Martini said. “With this, you’re helping these kids to be ready for the new workforce.”

Martini also said UAFS officials for the first time included an economic impact survey in the team forms. He said the university believes it important to quantify the financial benefit in having the regional, multi-state competition in Fort Smith. Survey questions seek to determine info on the number of lodging nights and costs, the number of meals purchased per person and cost of those meals, and estimates on other spending while in the area.

Results from the surveys are expected in a few weeks, Martini said.

Also, eight people from St. Louis, Kansas and other areas were in Fort Smith to learn about creating BEST hubs and teams in their areas.

The hubs and schools that competed in this year’s Frontier Trails BEST competition were:
• Bison BEST of Fargo, N.D.: Climax-Shelly Independent School District, Climax, Minn.; New London-Spicer Robotics of New London, Minn.; REACH Homeschool of Sabin, Minn.; Kittson Central High School of Hallock, Minn.; Pelican Rapids High School of Pelican Rapids, Minn.; and Watertown High School of Watertown, S.D.

• Crowley’s Ridge Best of Jonesboro: West Memphis Christian School, West Memphis; Buffalo Island Central, Leachville; Hillcrest High School, Strawberry; Paragould High School, Paragould; Calico Rock High School, Calico Rock; and White Station High School, Memphis, Tenn.

• Heartland BEST of Alva, Okla.: Lawton Academy, Lawton, Okla.; Shattuck High School, Shattuck, Okla.; Fairview High School, Fairview, Okla.; Perry High School, Perry, Okla.; and Wynona High School, Wynona, Okla.

• Kansas BEST of Wichita, Kan.: Wichita Homeschool, Wichita, Kan.; Ambassadors for Christ Academy, Bentonville, Ark.; Circle High School, Towanda, Kan.; and Kansas City Christian School, Prairie Village, Kan.

• Little Rock BEST, Little Rock, Ark.: Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts of Hot Springs; eStem High Public Charter School, Little Rock; Two Rivers School, Ola; and Poyen High School, Poyen.

• Northark BEST of Harrison: Conway High School, Conway, Mo; Lebanon High School, Lebanon, Mo.; and Jefferson City Public Schools, of Jefferson City, Mo.

• OK BEST of Oklahoma City: Tulsa Engineering Academy at Memorial, Tulsa, Okla.; OKC Homeschool, Edmond, Okla.; Hidden Valley Homeschool, Choctaw, Okla.;  and C.O.A.C.H., of Norman, Okla.

• River Valley BEST of Fort Smith: Metro Homeschool of Blue Springs, Mo.; Mulberry/Pleasant View High School, Mulberry; Western Arkansas Technical Center, Fort Smith; and Chaffin Junior High School, Fort Smith.

• Rocky Mountain BEST of Denver, Colo.: Ridge View Academy of Watkins City, Colo.; and East High School of Denver, Colo.