6054: What we learned this year

[GeeTwo]

For item #1 (difficulty ordering parts through school bureaucracy), I suggest forming a booster club. We based ours on the band/sports booster club model. The idea is to form a corporation (preferably 501 (c) (3)) which can accept many of the donations to the team and spend the money without so much external oversight. As I understand, about 1/2 to 2/3 of our funding goes through Slidell Tiger Robotics Booster Club, and 1/3 to 1/2 through the school account. We list team sponsors based on donations to either the official school account or the booster club. It's also a great way for parents and other adults who would like to help but don't have the skills or time to be technical mentors to provide real contributions to the team.