[GreyingJay]

Lots of great advice here.

Mine would be to add that anything is possible - as long as there are people to drive toward it. Mentors are the long term memory of any FRC team since students must come and go. Build spaces, sponsorships, money, tools, all of that comes when students and mentors go searching for it.

So your absolute #1 priority is finding mentors.

If you want to pursue the school connection, obviously you want to ask teachers to become involved. But you also have a community connection. Be sure to take advantage of that. Your students' parents are the first and obvious choice. Appeal to them for their help and support. I would say half of the mentors on our team are parents of team members.

Find places to show off what you've done and recruit potential new mentors. Offer to bring your team and your robot to any company that has sponsored you. Appeal to the employees to join your team.

Build a base of mentors who are willing to help do the work behind the scenes. As you've seen, it's a lot of work and it really shouldn't be left to one person. Get a core group of adults together who will commit to keeping the team going.