War Eagle BEST, Auburn University Teacher Leadership Award, for inspiring the spirit of the
Auburn Creed in his BEST Students.
“I believe in education, which gives me the knowledge to work wisely and trains my mind and my hands to work skillfully” - from the Auburn Creed
BEST stands for Boosting Engineering, Science, and Technology. BEST originated in Texas in 1993 when two engineers from Texas instruments organized what they thought was a one-shot robotics event for local high schools. Since then it has grown to nearly 1000 schools and 50 host sites. Its mission is to "inspire students to pursue careers in engineering, science, technology, and math through participation in a sports-like science- and engineering-based robotics competition." Each year teams develop robots to perform tasks simulating a different branch of engineering. Last year was MCPS's third year to participate. There are two competitions. The Robotics competition and the BEST competition including robotics plus marketing and oral presentation components. Montgomery Catholic finished 9th in the region last year out of 24.
The War Eagle BEST Teacher Leadership Award is given each year at the Auburn University regional BEST competitions to an individual who demonstrates the spirit of the BEST program in promoting interest in technology-related fields of study. BEST is administered at Auburn University by the College of Engineering and the College of Sciences and Mathematics. MCPS participated in many activities sponsored by these Colleges: BEST, TEAMS (another engineering themed competition), E-Day (Auburn's Engineering Open House), AMP'd (solving math puzzles, middle school and high school), and the Women's Leadership Symposium in Science and Mathematics.
Dr. Joe Profio, is a current Faculty member at Montgomery Catholic Preparatory School and an Alumni. When asked about receiving the award Dr. Profio said, “I believe I was considered for the award because I participate in as many Math, Science and Engineering events as possible at Auburn. In addition, I support or coordinate MCPS participation in math competitions (University of Alabama, Vestavia Hills, AMC (state math competition), Science Olympiad, and the Math and Computing Olympiad at Alabama State University.Math and Science are not just class subjects designed to torture unfortunate students. (That's just a perk!) Math and Science are alive and exciting. MCPS students benefit from associating and competing with the top students from other schools around Alabama and western Georgia. These events, whether we win or lose, provide perspective to students on what types of questions mathematicians, scientists, and engineers consider.”
Montgomery Catholic looks forward to continued success in these programs, and are very proud of the dedication and success of Dr. Profio and our students.
