[Jimmy Cao]

We participate in an off-season competition (OCCRA). Depending on where you live, maybe you can find a similar event. It is a great opportunity for students to get hooked onto robotics.

Even if there isn't such an event in your area, maybe you could look for off-season competitions (such as ARC, Kettering, etc). In these competitions, you use your robot from the previous season to compete. They are low-stress, high-energy environments where students can get all of the fun of a FIRST competition, without all the stress and hard work =P