Title I school program challenges

The Challenges of Running a Robotics Program in a Title I School...

I had a discussion yesterday about the history of this program in this school.  I need to have a longer and more direct one, but here is what I learned:

• There are between 20 and 40 students that participate in the program.
• The school has a single TETRIX MAX Dual-Control Class Pack

  

• The program is divided into Varsity and Junior Varsity.
• I don't know how the programs divide the sets out, but that can mean as many as 4-7 students working on a single kit, making one robot.  
• In our program, JV learns, Varsity competes. 
• In our competitions, these middle school students compete against high school and early college teams.  
• The other teams used aftermarket components, while ours used only kit supplied components.  I am exploring aftermarket compatibility and will let the students do that as we guide them.
• This year, every team had shirts but ours.  This is a shortcoming we will address next year for the Varsity.  
• In a district where funding doesn't necessarily provide everything needed for educational necessities, how do you justify additional funding for an after school and extra-curricular program?

Here are my questions to you.  

• What are some sources of support for robotics within the schools?
• How can we get enough sets to reduce the student to kit ratio in the program?
• We want a strong program and to be competitive, but don't want to deny any student access to the program if they qualify.  
• While this blog is specifically targeted to the students, I want to reach out to the parents of the students to inform them not only about the program and what their students are doing, but to get their cooperation and support.  We were essentially during this year's competition.

As with other posts, as I learn more about our program, this information may change.