A cheering crowd, referees, mascots and cheerleaders – no, it’s not another football game.

 

On Saturday morning the University of West Florida Field House buzzed with activity and the Emerald Coast BEST Robotics competition whirred to a start.

 

The competition plays out in an arena setting as 20 area high schools and middle schools compete against each other with their robots. Gulf Power Company is the major sponsor for the Emerald Coast BEST Robotics competition, which is held annually. 

 

This year’s theme for the competition, BUGS, refers to a conceived disaster of genetically engineered bugs escaping from a BEST lab. The goal for the robots is to recover and contain the bugs before they create a potential health and environmental crisis.

 

Students had six weeks to build their robots and teams were judged on robot performance, oral presentation, table display, project notebook, spirit and sportsmanship.

 

It’s all a part of an initiative to inspire students to pursue careers in engineering, science and technology through participation in a sports-like, science and engineering-based robotics competition each fall. Student teams are judged on robot performance, marketing presentation, team exhibit/interview, project engineering notebook, and spirit and sportsmanship.

 

Introduced by two MIT students, BEST — Boosting, Engineering, Science, and Technology — has grown into a nationally recognized competition challenging more than 50,000 participants since its start in 1993. Area schools have been competing since 2004, when Gulf Power sponsored eight local teams in the regional competition in Mobile.

 

Dallas Rich, a math and science teach from Workman Middle School, said the competition encompasses everything they want to teach the students.

“This is the best program I’ve ever seen. It involves problem-solving, sportsmanship and gives the kids a real-world aspect of life,” said Rich.

 

Austin Scharer, eighth grader from Workman Middle School, said he will definitely compete again next year. “The competition is nerve-racking, but as long as the team sticks together, we’ll be alright.”

 

“There is a lot of camaraderie between the competing schools as well,” said Rich. “It’s a great positive atmosphere.”

 

Four schools in Northwest Florida were among the winners that will advance to the finals at Auburn University on

Dec. 2-3: Milton High School, Pensacola High School, Seaside Neighborhood and Woodham Middle School.

 

Winners:

 

BEST Award

1.     Seaside Neighborhood School

2.     Woodham Middle School

3.     Woodlawn Beach Middle School

 

Game Award

1.     Milton High School

2.     Pensacola High School

3.     Seaside Neighborhood School

4.     Hobbs Middle School

 

 

Best T-shirt Design Award

1.     Deane Bozeman K-12 School

 

Web Page Design Award

1.     Seaside Neighborhood School

 

Founders Award for Creative Design

1.     Workman Middle School

2.     Seaside Neighborhood School

3.     Hobbs Middle School

 

Most Robust Robot

1.     Milton High School

2.     Woodlawn Beach Middle School

3.     Seaside Neighborhood School

 

Most Photogenic Robot

1.     Bethlehem K-12

2.     Hobbs Middle School

3.     West Florida High School

Best Team Exhibit and Interview

1.     Seaside Neighborhood School

 

Best Marketing Presentation

1.     Seaside Neighborhood School

Best Project Engineering Notebook

1.     Holley Navarre Middle School

Best Spirit and Sportsmanship

1.     Seaside Neighborhood School

 

Hub Director’s Pit Friend Award

1.      Pensacola High School

 

HEXBUG Busy Bee Award

1.     {C}{C}{C}{C}Woodlawn Beach Middle School

Gulf Power- Blood, Sweat and Duct Tape Award

1.     Brown Barge Middle School

 

This year’s teams:

Bay County: Deane Bozeman K-12 School

Escambia County: Bellview Middle School, Brown-Barge Middle School, Escambia High School, Newpoint Pensacola High School, Pensacola High School, Ransom Middle School, Tate High School, West Florida High School, Woodham Middle School, Workman Middle School

Holmes County: Bethlehem K-12 School

Jackson County: Cottondale High School

Santa Rosa County: Avalon Middle School, Hobbs Middle School, Holley-Navarre Middle School, Milton High School, Pace High School, Woodlawn Beach Middle School

Walton County: Seaside Neighborhood Middle School

For more information, see http://www.uwf.edu/ece/EmeraldCoastBEST/

Gulf Power is committed to help put science and math on a fun level with students while teaching the skills needed to join the workforce. Another educational program, I LOVE SCIENCE, provides a one-hour, hands-on science project each month in fifth grade classrooms. To find out more about Gulf Power’s education initiatives, please visit www.gulfpower.com/ecodev/wf_development.asp.

Gulf Power Company is an investor-owned electric utility with all of its common stock owned by Atlanta-based Southern Company. Gulf Power serves more than 430,000 customers in eight counties throughout Northwest Florida. The company’s mission is to safely deliver affordable, reliable and environmentally responsible electric service to our customers while working to improve the communities we serve. Visit online at GulfPower.com or on the company’s Facebook page, “Gulf Power Company.”