Now if I get wind the plans are for a school project I advise them not to have a deadline. And I've been assured by the ones I've talked with their program respects and reviews progress and not an arbitrary deadline.

Well, pretty much by definition any school-year project is going to have some sort of deadline. But to your point, I would suggest breaking the project down into sub-projects, each with some specific goal, so that there's ongoing progress to measure against. If Mark would find that useful, maybe posters with SOF experience could offer some suggestions on what sub-projects / milestones might be meaningful?

Also, to John's point, I think this could provide a way that Mark could assist, without actually "doing the project for her." For example, in my humble opinion something like "steam-bending ribs for a SOF kayak" would in and of itself be a pretty hefty project for an 8th grader, and it wouldn't be "cheating" on that project if the parent helped with the design and construction outside of the ribs. Or, if it was "skinning an SOF kayak" then it wouldn't be "cheating" to get help on the frame construction. Etc.

Desire and tenacity will overcome any obstacle. Such a project will most likely be life changing for a young person. Mistakes are unplanned learning opportunities. Experts make mistakes all the time, they're just better at hiding them. Learning is fun.

I have to give you a "yes, and..." on that one. I think a teacher's role is to help manage expectations, and not say "stop" but maybe say "you might find it easier to start here instead of there." Some kids have indomnitable spirits, but I think many kids need help recognizing their successes rather than focusing on perceived failures to accomplish the (unrealistic) objective they may have had in their heads.

But hey - depends on the kid. I'm going to trust Mark on this one.