[Grim Tuesday]

It seems to me that this teacher has more serious issues than just your team. If anyone can ignore the social ques that the students and mentors of the team are sending him, they need serious help.

Our team is in a similar situation when it comes to facilities: We take up a full four tech rooms at our school, all of which are used in regular classes. They must all be spotless at the end of the night, and this is not too hard of a task to perform. We have a closet that we stuff everything into at the end, so if you budget 15 minutes every night for cleanup, you should be fine.

We also do design every part in CAD before making it. However, our CAD team is 10+ strong, and all are competent. It works for us, but CAD is not for all teams. If your coach/mentor/adviser doesn't understand this, like I said before, he has some serious issues.

Finally, what student positions do you have on the team? Is there a student president/captain? Is there a lead mentor? If so, either or both of these people need to talk to your coach and immediately have, for lack of better wording, an intervention. Talk to him, and figure out why he wants all of this this way. Try to logic him out of his crazy ways.

If he can not see the logic in doing the right thing, or he can not convince you to his side, it is time for more drastic action. You need to be talking with district admin and your principal all this time about this situation, but be prepared to finish the robot in your mentors garage. Good luck.


EDIT: By striking against him, you prove he has the most power. Prove to him that you [the students and mentors] run the team, and not him. Don't strike, he will assume you are being lazy. Show your passion, and maybe he will bend.

EDIT2X: Where are you located? If you need any help with anything, I'm sure a local team could take you in, if not provide you with any sort of other support you may need.