This is a fascinating discussion--obviously it's timeless since it's been going on at least since 2010!
If you're anywhere near Michigan, you may want to attend our ROBO-CON Festival on July 23, 2016 in Lapeer, Michigan. This year we're putting together a roundtable discussion involving educators who are also mentors, and encouraging other teachers, administrators and school board members to come out to hear how robotics team involvement affects students academically.
This idea came about after a conversation with an alternative ed teacher who started coaching a rookie team this year (and they did fabulous!). We talked about how motivating it is for the students to compete the robot they built. I want educators to hear from their peers about what a difference robotics makes, and I hope this is a springboard to schools welcoming and encouraging their robotics teams.
We haven't yet set a time for the roundtable discussion, but when we do, we'll post it on the event website at
MiRoboCon.com.