[GaryVoshol]

I agree you need to get the parents involved. Your team needs the support. Mentors can't do it all, and shouldn't be expected to. The additional leverage parents bring is that they are taxpayers and voters. They can be advocates for the team and lobby the Board of Ed and school administrators.

You should also investigate setting yourselves up as a 501(c)3 corporation (a non-profit). Then your sponsors could contribute tax-deductable donations directly to team accounts, and you could pay your bills directly instead of having to go through school accounts.

You also need to show the school administrators that this is a good program to be involved with. Get them to tournaments. Make a presentation to the Board of Ed with your robot. Show them students who are now inspired to get degrees in science, math and engineering, and who have opportunities for college scholarships.