[Matt Reiland]

Our schools started out in the 1st scenario, we had great teacher support, the school supported us, all was well. Then over the past 4 years the support has been steadily declining to a point now where I see the 'absolute' minimum support that they could possibly give us and keep their name on the robot. There is zero $$$, all comes from my company, the kids don't fund-raise at all, the engineers end up having to babysit as well as try and teach, it is really frustrating. It has finally degraded to the point where most of the mentors are looking into switching teams for next year unless a mojor overhaul takes place. The principal of the school was a strong supporter and has now moved on, the new principle either doesn't see this as valuable or believes that the GM mentors will run the whole thing and it isn't necessary for the school to provide any support.

When people take the time to volunteer they should ALWAYS be treated like volunteers, things that you EXPECT from a paid employee can't be expected of someone who is giving up their time and effort out of the goodness of their heart and their belief that this is a valuable and great program for tomorrows engineers and scientists. When I volunteer at a FIRST event, FIRST makes it clear to you that they couldn't do it with out you.