[Scott Kozutsky]

As I see it, the goal of FIRST is to inspire and to teach.

Mentors are there to help guide kids in the right direction and allow them to use and understand tools they would otherwise not have access to. You can plop a kid in front of a mill or lathe and check that they don't kill themselves but they'll learn a lot more if you guide them.

That kid will also be a lot more inspired if they make something awesome instead of fumbling figuring out what was going on.

As I see it the best teams are the ones with the best process of guiding students into fields that they enjoy. Having more tools and resources allows students to learn more and make more awesome stuff. (I know 865 is going to continue using CNC despite being more competitive because it's a valuable learning tool, being competitive is an added benefit)

254 and 1114 are both teams with a lot of resources and as a result the kids that come out of them are some of the best that FRC has to offer. They are educated in engineering and very enthusiastic. It's worth it even if mentors helped along the way.

I don't like that we're discouraging devoted mentors from doing what they love. I want more students to learn more and I don't agree that less mentor involvement is going to do that.