March 28 through March 30, ten members of TSA, or the Technology Student Association, traveled to Salina’s Webster Conference Center for the state competition. The students who participated were: Trent Graves, junior; Kelly Stone, Andi Walter, Matthew Parodi, Blake Rieschick, Curtis Kasitz, Zach DuBois and Tanner Myers, sophomores; Cody Hammons and Jacob Mitchell, freshmen. Once there, they competed in an array of events ranging from speaking about technology topics to hands-on problem solving.
Two students qualified for the National TSA Conference. Stone qualified in Prepared Presentation, taking third. Walter took third in Photographic Technology and first in Essays on Technology. The conference will be held this year in Orlando, FL from June 28 to July 2.
Over 200 students from 27 different schools were at the state conference, so qualifying for nationals is rather impressive. Most events required extensive preparation before the conference. Competitors for the events held on site also needed to practice in order to have a chance at success.
“I had to prepare a lot for my events,” Walter said. “ Whether or not you place depends on how well you prepared for it.”
It was not all serious though, mixed in were some fun activities, including one where students could bid on the chance of “pieing” student officers and Carolyn Cole, State Advisor, in the face. All the money raised from the bids went toward necessary TSA costs.
“I was surprised by how expansive the conference was—competitions included speeches, architectural drawings, film and video production and robotics,” Susan Moore, TSA chaperone, said. “It was fast-paced and I loved it as much as the students did. It’s one of the best extracurriculars I’ve ever attended. It’s so much fun I don’t know why more students don’t do it.”
Educators from all over Kansas were there to support their students and LHS wasn’t alone, in attendance were Rodney Kasitz, TSA advisor, and Moore.
