Keys to Winning: Strategies for the BEST Award Virginia Vilardi And Jennifer Cox

BEST Award BEST Award: Engineering Notebook Team Exhibit (Table Display) Marketing Presentation (Oral Presentation) Spirit and Sportsmanship Robot

Engineering Notebook Details the construction of the robot Starts with brainstorming/defining the problem Includes strategy, calculations, drawings, pictures, testing and CAD Use consistent font and style throughout document - professional Not a scrapbook Does not include marketing or team info Research Paper

Proof of Student Designed and built robot Engineering Notebook Proof of Student Designed and built robot CAD/photos/tables

Team Exhibit/Table Display Student Knowledge of Material Displayed – very Important! Focus should be on the robot and the marketing of the robot and team Include school and community involvement Should show how the team represents BEST Remember that adults will be judging – entrances, font size, colors should be adult friendly Showcases the teams “company” as a whole Use technology if available

Team Exhibit/Table Display Eye Catching

Team Exhibit/Table Display Welcoming with students “at the door”

Team Exhibit/Table Display Holds the audience’s attention while educating them about the “company”

Team Exhibit/Table Display Can incorporate the game theme or go in a completely different direction

Team Exhibit/Table Display Can you find the problem?

Team Exhibit/Table Display What’s right with these exhibits?

Team Exhibit/Table Display Community Involvement Have robot will travel

Robot at AUM Groundbreaking

Team Exhibit/Table Display Demonstrations Parades and Carnivals

Team Exhibit/Table Display School Involvement

Team Exhibit/Table Display

Marketing Presentation/Oral Presentation Should showcase team as a business Include demographics and team divisions Include how the team marketed BEST, their robot and the team Include fundraising and budget Include strategy Include robot design, test, evaluations Should be professional Have a backup plan – more then one save of PPT

Marketing Presentation/Oral Presentation Check outfits ahead of time Practice, practice, practice Have an understudy ready to step up if necessary Remind students not to look at the slides Maintain eye contact with the judges Memorize the speech!

Dr. Leonard Rogers (Business Assistants) Our Company Wetumpka High School Science Department (Owner) Virginia Vilardi (CEO) Robert Bryan Carmine Vilardi (Technical Advisor ) (Business Advisor) Barbra Bryan, Debbie Clark, Paul Daniels, Becky Jones, Jessica Holbert, Robert Vilardi Dr. Leonard Rogers (Business Assistants) Zac Jones, Carl Lyness, Sabrina Lynn , Cassidy Overby, Aaron Sexton (Mentoring Assistant)

Our Company Virginia Vilardi CEO Barbra Bryan Mentor Debbie Clark Mentor Paul Daniels Mentor Becky Jones Mentor Jessica Holbert Mentor Leonard Rogers Mentor Ryan Ebbinga Engineering Capt. Megan Moody Business Capt. Robot Team Playing Field Alex Webber Drive J. Oliver CAD Jared Bagget Web Page Katie Dulak Notebook Tulsi Patel Team Exhibit J. Harrison Spirit Ashtyn Clark Presentation Marie Reuter Wheel Team Research Dalton, Cape T-Shirt E. Rodriguez Drawstring Team Scrapbook C. Golson Basket Team Fundraising C. Smith Give-a-Ways Ashtyn Clark

Company Diversity Freshmen 10 Sophomores 12 Seniors 10 Juniors 10

Bake Sale Bagging for Tips Fundraising T-Shirts/ Hex Bugs Bake Sale Bagging for Tips

Total Funds Raised Sponsor Donations/ Investments $4,625.72 T-shirt Fundraiser $869.00 Bagging for Tips $400.00 Product Expo $250.00 Hexbug Fundraiser $50.00 Bake Sale $175.00 Total $ 6,369.72

Spirit and Sportsmanship Promotes networking with other young people Improves people skills Nice guys can finish first! Show team spirit with t-shirts, mascots, band etc. Parents and other attending need to be involved Team event – all members count! Send good luck cards, buttons, signs

Spirit and Sportsmanship

Spirit and Sportsmanship

Spirit and Sportsmanship

Robot Needs to be able to move and score Better the robot the higher the BEST score for the robot Better the robot – increases team excitement and team spirit You need a working robot by week 4 because the students need to practice driving it Driver practice is critical

Robot

Pointers READ and Follow the RULES Use the individual event score sheets as a guide – they may change every year so make sure you do too Create a timeline and stick to it Review everything using the score sheets as a checklist – have someone outside doing the checking Let the students have ownership – the more they do the better you will do There will be good years and rebuilding years – leadership changes as the students grow and graduate

Success Stories Josh Steven Nick Q Oliver

Questions?

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