On Saturday, September 6th the Arnett Robotics Team went to Kickoff at NWOSU in Alva. This marks the 4th year our Robocats will be competing in BEST Robotics. BEST stands for Boosting Engineering, Science and Technology, and it is in its 32nd year.
The theme of this year’s Competition is FActoIds.
So what is a Factoid? According to Webster’s Dictionary it is an invented fact, believed to be true because it appears in print. Over the past few years Artificial Intelligence has become more and more a part of our daily lives. It is a challenge for most AI programs to filter fact from fiction which leads to poor-quality data and answers that are just wrong. In this competition that’s exactly what we are supposed to do: Build a robot that is able to differentiate between True and False factoids. Over the next eight weeks, not only will we design, build and practice with a robot, but we will put together an exhibit, write an engineering notebook and work on a marketing presentation to hopefully knock the socks off the competition.
With 30 students signing up for robotics this year, we decided to split into 2 Teams: JH and HS. We are looking forward to double the fun and of course double the work. We had elections for the HS team that will serve as mentors for the JH team. Our 2025 officers are
President: Martin Sanchez
VP of design: Troy Burton
VP of construction: Lincoln Coleman
VP of notebook: Whitley Toy Stewart
VP of money & moral: Lola Coleman
VP of marketing: Dayson West
Game day is on November 1s, so stay tuned for updates on our progress on our Instagram (Arnett_Robocats_ ) and Facebook (ArnettRobocats) accounts. We would also like to thank The Arnett Merchantile, Farmers & Merchants Bank and Day County Services for sponsoring us and would love to hear from anyone else willing to give us a helping hand. Without you, this wouldn't be possible!
Front Row: Nevan Swanson, Emery Goff, Norah Bryant, Lexi Gaisford, Avalina Barnett, Audia McIntyre, Leilani Daniels, Lyric Ross, Toy Stewart, and Lola Coleman
Mrs. Knowles’ speech students also shared learning with younger kids this week. They visited elementary classrooms and read accurate agricultural books. The younger students enjoyed the stories while also learning more about farming and agriculture.
Eli Coykendall reading to the Pre-K class.
Two Arnett students competed in their first rodeo of the 2025-2026 season. Kindrey Gaisford, a 5th grader, is competing in the Junior High division. She showed grit and determination as she entered poles, goat tying, and breakaway roping. Kindrey raced hard in the poles and earned 9th place with a quick time of 21.47 seconds. Breclyn Suthers, a senior, is beginning her final year of High School rodeo. With experience and skill, she competed in goat tying and breakaway roping and did well, showing why she is such a strong competitor. She had two qualifying goat times for the first rodeo of the season.
Breclyn getting ready for her events.
In sports, the High School Lady Wildcats softball team had a busy week on the field. On Monday, they traveled to Waynoka and played with strong defense, winning 8-0 in a shutout victory. Tuesday, they faced Shattuck at home. The Lady Wildcats fought hard, but Shattuck’s bats were hot, and Arnett fell 1-14. On Friday, the girls battled through two tough games. They came up just short against Vici in a close 10-12 matchup and later lost to Arapaho-Butler 1-13, despite their efforts to stay in the game.
The Wildcat baseball team also worked hard through a tough week of competition. On Monday, they traveled to Sweetwater and lost a close game 1-3, showing good pitching and defense. Tuesday at home, they took on a strong Leedey team but couldn’t get the bats going, losing 0-14. Thursday, they faced Dover at home, where the Wildcats scored some runs but still lost 3-13. On Friday, they stayed at home again against Lomega. The Wildcats fought to put runners on base but ended with another 3-13 loss.
