[ratdude747]

This is a topic that could turn ugly... it has been discussed before many times and can get a tad hairy.

there are two sides of the spectrum. on one side, you have mentors that do very little. on the other, you have mentors that do a lot, to the degree of the full robot design and planning. there are many different reasonings behind either method or whatever is in between.

I personally favor it this way:

- mentors teach skills to students initially, from there, they guide students, "pushing them in the right direction".
-mentors can have input on designs but the decision should be the students' vote/consensus. mentor ideas and student ideas have equal merit and value.
-mentors have the same responsibilities as students when it comes to safety; everybody watches out for each other.

in summary, you could say mentors IMHO are like GPS units to the students- they give directions and help you out but the choices on what to do are up to the driver (the student); the gps unit doesn't drive the car.

the reason I see it as the best way is this way the students learn how to design and build things and have something to call their own work. if the robot does poorly, then they learn from it. if the robot does well, they also learn from it. people learn by doing not watching.

I know there are many people who will disagree; I am stating what I see is what roles mentors have in FIRST.