Introduced by two MIT students; the BEST – Boosting Engineering Science and Technology – competition has grown into a nationally recognized competition that has challenged more than 50,000 participants since its inception in 1993.

Joining the competition for the first year is the Emerald Coast BEST, hosted by the University of West Florida. You can catch a glimpse of the action at the practice round on Saturday, Oct. 20, from noon to 4 p.m. The following Saturday, Oct. 27, more than 20 schools will compete in the official "2021 - A Robot Odyssey" in hopes of advancing to finals at Auburn University.

BEST is designed to inspire middle and high school students to pursue careers in engineering, science and technology through participation in a sports-like, science and engineering-based robotics competition. Teams are judged not only on building a robot to compete on gameday, but also on oral presentations, technical notebooks, table displays and spirit and sportsmanship.

Area schools have been competing since 2004, when Gulf Power sponsored about eight local teams for the regional competition in Mobile, Ala. Since then, Gulf Power employees have been involved as event organizers, team mentors and judges for competition. Last year, eight schools from Northwest Florida competed in Mobile's Jubilee BEST competition. Milton High, King Middle and Holley Navarre Middle advanced to finals from a field of 22 teams from as far away as Texas and Boca Raton, Fla.

At the BEST finals at Auburn University, Milton High finished third in the Robotics competition, and third in the Most Robust Robot category. Holley Navarre finished third in the T-shirt design award and King Middle won second place in the Most Photogenic Robot Award.

For an insider look at one school's progress so far, check out Seaside Neighborhood School. For details on the Emerald Coast competition at UWF, visit the Emerald Coast Web site.

The list of schools competing is below:

• EMERALD COAST BEST (UWF)
  Escambia County
  • Bailey Middle - Lead Teacher: Sherry Comstock
  • Bellview Middle School - Lead Teacher: Bill Blankenship
  • Brown Barge Middle School - Lead Teacher: Susan Hunter
  • West Florida High School - Lead Teacher: Comer B "Bo" Fowler Jr.

    Santa Rosa County

  • Avalon Middle School - Lead Teacher: Penny Moore
  • Gulf Breeze High School - Lead Teacher: Susan Cundiff
  • Hobbs Middle School - Lead Teacher: Patricia J. Simich
  • Holly Navarre Middle School- Lead Teacher: Kathy Clark
  • King Middle School - Lead Teacher: Kelly Lee
  • Milton High School - Lead Teacher: Arthur Schang
  • Navarre High School - Lead Teacher: Stephen Haswell
  • Pace High School - Lead Teacher: Jack Waddell
  • Woodlawn Beach Middle School - Lead Teacher: Shannon Farrell

    Okaloosa County

  • Laurel Hill K-12- Lead Teacher: Joan Mitchell
  • OWC Collegiate High School - Lead Teacher: Dr. Perian M. Herring

    Walton County

  • Paxton K-12 - Lead Teacher: Alvin Wade
  • Seaside Neighborhood Middle School - Lead Teacher: Kim Mixson

    Bay County

  • Arnold High School - Lead Teacher: Jim Coupe'
  • Mowat Middle School - Lead Teacher: Nancy Browne

    Jackson County

  • Marianna High School - Lead Teacher: Vicki Garrett

   

  PENSACOLA, Fla. - Oct. 22, 2007 - Local middle and high school students are busy putting the finishing touches on robots to compete in the first BEST competition in Florida.