[RoboMom]

I hope 1075 continues next year... Our main teacher is questioning if he will be able to, because since he is the only truly dedicated teacher in our school, he lost out on an EXTREME amount of time at home with his WIFE and KIDS. He needs to be truly commended on his dedication to FIRST and the students, myself included. He spent close to 16 hours/day at school, forfeiting time with his WIFE and KIDS to teach us. THIS is true dedication to FIRST.

To Mr. Smith: 1075 THANKS YOU!

He has told us, that the wife may not let him do this again next year. This is clearly not because she has an issue with FIRST. She also thinks that FIRST is one of the best things that could happen to our school. But since there is not nearly enough teacher support at our school, FIRST may fall through the cracks. I will do my damnedest to keep 1075 alive, however I fear for the worst. I dont like to point fingers, but if FIRST falls through at Sinclair, it would be the fault of every other teacher in the school.

There is the potential for very high burnout among teachers in FIRST. It's great if you are at a school with a supportive team of teachers, but there are many schools (like ours) where this is only one and that is a heavy load to carry.
One suggestion is what Team 007 did last year. They asked for time at a faculty meeting. They wrote up an excellent plea letter (and had it proofread!) They spoke at the meeting saying the team was going to go under if there wasn't some more faculty help. What they asked for was a one time 3-4 hour stint from teachers to come chaperone so that the team could legally be in the building and the main teacher advisor could go home. They could bring work to do; they just had to be there. As a result, many English/French/history/math/art/music etc etc teachers signed up. And what they saw going on night after night amazed them. This year we asked them to write their impressions in a log book and we have pages of wonderful testimonials. Now much much more of the school understands more about the robotics team. It spread the word. Team 007 is very much student run. The students take ownership of all aspects of the team and this was one way they tried to solve a problem. Of course, the team would love to have many teacher/advisors, but all these teachers are so overextended we are grateful for what we have.
I hope things work out with your teacher. But get him some help.