By Benny M.
For the last few months, Mountain Range’s TSA Chapter students were working on their projects for the state competition. Once all the early submissions and prep work had been finished, every single member of the team had qualified for semifinals in all of their competitive events and started scheduling interviews, finishing any projects that would be presented onesite. Over mid-winter break, our competitors presented the results during the 3 day conference, and despite the small number of competitors, three teams were state finalists, and took home medals
For those who are unfamiliar with TSA (Technology Student Association), it’s an after school club for students to learn, practice, and in some cases compete in various categories. It’s run by Mr Hock in the tech classroom, C140, after school on Wednesdays. Members can choose whether they want to simply hang out and learn various tech skills, use their skills to compete, or both.
Every year, members who choose to compete receive prompts and requirements for their chosen events and begin work on their projects. By mid-January, all fully digital projects are submitted early, as well as all portfolios for digital and physical projects (the physical projects submit an in-progress portfolio rather than a final one). In mid-February, the TSA State Conference is held in Denver, and competitors spend 3 days doing anything from races in events like Senior Solar Sprint, to test flights in Drone Challenge (UAV), and interviews in just about every event. However, there is also a lot of downtime, which is spent getting to cool off with friends and meeting fellow competitors from around the state. While not actively competing or preparing to compete, students do things like play various games together, play music, shoot film projects, or use the hotel’s pool and gym. There are also several workshops available which range from fun activities and competitions like Drone Race Challenge to design challenges and lessons, like 3D Printing With Chocolate.
This year’s roster of competitors is smaller than some recent years. Last year, MRHS TSA had 27 members at State, one of our largest teams yet. This year, there were 8 members involved in competitive events, with only 7 attending state. While every team qualified for semis, a few teams decided to drop certain events in order to focus on other events. Here is the final list of teams which decided to continue past semifinals:
Semifinalist Teams (including finalists) :
Animatronic Design: Nolan B (Captain), Isaiah A
Board Game Design: Andrew P (Captain)
Digital Video Production: Benny M (Captain), Isaiah A, and Jacob N
Flight Endurance Team 1: Malachi M (Captain)
Flight Endurance Team 2: Landon D (Captain)
Music Production Team 1: Landon D (Captain)
Music Production Team 2: Jacob N (Captain)
Senior Solar Sprint: Andrew P (Captain)
Video Game Design: Nolan B (Captain), Isaiah A
After interviews and, in some cases, actual events, students had more free time, up until the closing ceremony on the final day of the conference. The opening and closing ceremonies were streamed for both high school and middle school. Here is the link to the full end ceremony for High School’s events: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4HC2sCshys
Three Mountain Range teams were state finalists:
Digital Video Production: Benny M (Captain), Isaiah A, and Jacob N - Third place in their category!
Senior Solar Sprint: Andrew P (Captain) - Second place in their category!
Music Production: Jacob N (Captain) - First place in their category!
Drone Race Challenge: Malachi M - Finalist (onsite workshop, not event)
Huge congratulations to all of the students who competed for their incredible work in both semifinalist events and finalist events!
You can learn more about TSA by talking to Mr Hock or checking the official national website or official state website. Learn more about Mountain Range’s past TSA competitions by reading past Range articles, such as the recap of the 2022 conference, preview of the 2024 conference, and the recap of the 2024 conference.