Mentor/Student Involvement Philosophies

[s_forbes]

Originally Posted by robofreak

Doesn't seem to look like many people have had this thought so Ill just throw it here.

You may be inspiring your students by building a robot for them and winning every regional/district you go to. (I would hope you could beat a bunch of kids with all your engineering degrees)

But what about all the students from other teams who hand built their robots that only get to see disappointment because they know that they can't compete with you?

If you look at the big picture instead of putting your horse blinders on and only thinking about your team and winning all the time you might realize you impact every team around you. And that impact may not necessarily be a positive one.

I understand this issue, but I don't know a fix for it. I've tried reaching out to a few other teams in my area to spread around more knowledge, but a lot of the time it goes unanswered.

The teams with the attitude of "Hey! Help us build a robot!" tend to attract more mentors than those that stay silent, and those of us (mentors) who are looking to teach kids about designing/building/testing are going to find the vocal teams first. I'm in Phoenix AZ. If anyone in the area wants input or help with their design just send me a message! I like helping teams make competitive robots, but I can't help if I don't know who/where you are.

It's not a factor of winning/losing for me; I just want to pass on knowledge to students and build neat things. Naturally, I'll be working the most with a team that is looking for that kind of support.