I'd like to say that there are mentor positions that are very difficult, very stressfull, extreemly important
and these are the people who NEVER get any award, there is no joy in the job they do
but if something goes wrong, WhoooBoy! everyone is miserable!
Im talking about the people who arrange the transportation, the meals, and the lodging for the team - FIRST teams tend to go through these people like paper through a shredder - they seldom last more than one year, and very often it ends up being someones mom or dad who takes on this thankless responsibility.
We call ours the 'Empress of Nourishment and Lodging' (its been students mom's for the last two years).
Imagine what it would be like if you are all at your HS on Wed afternoon, all your stuff and suitcases piled up in the parking lot, 40 students and mentors waiting for the bus - and a 20 passenger window van shows up instead of a tourist coach?
or you get to your hotel at 10:30 that night, and the clerk says "the computer shows you have 12 rooms reserved in Cleveland New Mexico, not Cleveland Ohio!
(Im not saying these things have happened, I saying these are the kinds of disasters that could happen if these jobs are not done 100% right).
with all the other magic that has to happen for a team to be a part of FIRST - without basic things like FOOD and a good place to sleep at night, your team would be miserable - it takes a lot of work to coordinate all that, and to get the best prices, and to haggle with the school over how many students you MUST stuff into each room
a heartfelt thanks to all the invisible FIRST heros who make it happen behind the scenes!