[JudyVandy]

My team is in its fourteenth year of existence. Every year has been successful in that we have built a robot and competed with it, and have inspired our young people. Some years were more successful at competitions than others. We have been a regional champion twice, a regional finalist more times than I care to count, and even a national finalist once, many years ago. Many of our alums have gone into engineering, science, and technology. My responses are strictly mine. My colleagues may see things a bit differently.

Who builds robots/where?
We build in the shop area of one of our schools.

Do you have dedicated space/machine shop?
We share with the HS shop classes. The teacher is one of our mentors.
Do you rely on corp. sponsors to build?
No.

Who manages the team/students?
A representative from each of the schools involved is responsible for the students from that school, but any mentor has the right and responsibility to mentor and correct any student needing attention.

How involved is your school?
For all of us, moral support, some monetary support, and the site is about it.

How involved are your students parents?
This varies. We try to involve them at least in providing lunches on Saturdays. Once we can get them to a competition, they're usually hooked. We are a black hole. Several of our mentore are actually the parents of our alumni.

What is your teams operating budget?
We can do one regional on 10-14 K.

How do you get compensated, besides the obvious joy of watching your students grow?
Just that.

What is your typical build season schedule?
Monday through Thursday, 5 to 8-ish. Plus Saturday, 9 to 4 or 9, depending on the week. As it gets closer to ship date, the ending time gets later.

I have many more questions and concerns, but this is a starter thread.