[Ben Piecuch]

I'll follow up on Ryan's complaint, as I'm one of the mentors on the team. Since the inception of the team, a shop teacher was the main driving force behind everything, from leading the team through preseason, to designing, building, and competing with the robot. He taught the students how to safely use the machines, and they took a lot of pride in having a 100% student built robot.

Since then, the shop teacher has retired, and we have not been able to find a replacement. We are a small team (<5 mentors, <10 students) and are having a difficult time balancing our time together as a group. The adults are forced to do a majority of the work, and students are only allowed to stand by and watch. While this is a great opportunity to teach the students, it's not the best use of our resources, especially during build season. We finally found a certified teacher to help us out, but he can only donate a day or two of his time, total. While it's hardly a blip in our schedule, we'll certainly welcome him with open arms.

I will say this... Ryan has always wanted to "build the robot." He wasn't all that interested in the brainstorming, prototyping, or even designing many of the parts. This year, he's been forced to sit by our sides and watch a bit of what the mentors do, in regards to designing the mechanisms. I think Ryan is getting more of an education than he expected, as he's become more involved in the other aspects of the team. As some old quote goes, "One closed doors leads you to an open one." Maybe this will spark him to do a little more than just "build the robot." Great thread Ryan, see you this weekend.

Bengineer
Team 228