DeWitt, IHS
Win Big at NYS Technology Competition, Look To Nationals
Eighth-grader Felix
Shi named Student of the Year
ITHACA, May 1, 2015 — Teams from DeWitt Middle School and Ithaca
High School (IHS) have brought home a busload of awards from the annual New
York State Technology Student Association (NYSTSA) competition. Now they have
set their sights on bigger things at the national level.
The NYSTSA competition was held
at SUNY Oswego on April 17. It involved 29 events, from extemporaneous speech to
video game design. Several events required design and performance competitions
for structures and vehicles, including bridges, cranes, catapults, gliders, CO2-propelled
dragsters, and solar cars. Individuals and groups from DeWitt and IHS won first
place in 11 events and second in 10.
Earning first place in all four
of the events he entered, DeWitt 8th-grader Felix Shi was named
NYSTSA Student of the Year for the middle-school division. Shi is gratified but
quick to share the credit. “Winning shows that all of my hard work preparing
has paid off,” Shi says. “But since most of my events were team events, my
teammates deserve a lot of the recognition too.”
Now DeWitt and IHS TSA members are
preparing to go to the national TSA competition, to be held in Dallas from June
28 to July 2. Over 7,000 students from 49 states and several countries are
expected. Perennially, both IHS and DeWitt are among the top competitors at TSA
nationals. (DeWitt’s Francesca Chu, now at IHS, won first place in the Essays
on Technology event at the TSA national competition in 2014.)
The national TSA gathering is a
transformative opportunity for students. “It's not only a competition, it’s
also very social,” notes Shi. “Students come from around the world. It is very
easy to strike up a lengthy conversation with someone from Germany! And when I
am surrounded by such creative and dedicated people, it influences me to also
think outside the box.”
Bob Walters, who heads the
DeWitt team with fellow teacher Dave Buchner, agrees that TSA is about much
more than traveling, competing, and winning. “The beauty of technology
engineering education,” says Walters, “is that students really develop 21st-century
skills, such as critical thinking, problem solving, engineering process,
technology literacy, leadership, and teamwork. Students can easily see the
fruits of their labor, which builds their motivation and engagement. And this
skill development and engagement are especially strong in TSA.”
DeWitt and IHS students will be
pulling late nights from now through June to prepare for TSA nationals.
Meanwhile, faculty advisors and parents are busy raising funds and managing
logistics to make the trip possible. The IHS group, under the direction of
faculty advisor Bill Sauve, has prepared a video crowdfunding campaign. See http://bit.ly/1HYE0Md
to view and contribute.
Shi and all TSA members from
both schools are grateful for the support.
“We love TSA and work hard at it,” he says. “But we know it all depends
on help from our teachers, parents, and donors. We’re going to do our best in
Dallas to make everyone proud. And then in the future, hopefully we’ll use our skills
to give even more back to the community.”
DeWitt TSA and IHS TSA are Associate Members of IthacaSTEM Advocates,
an affiliate of the Ithaca Public Education Initiative (IPEI). IPEI is a
not-for-profit organization that believes the education of every ICSD student
is enhanced through community connections and support facilitated by IPEI for
students and teachers through engagement, collaboration, gifts, and grants.
More information about IthacaSTEM Advocates and IPEI can be found at www.ithacastem.org and www.ipei.org. For further information about
the Technology Student Association, see www.tsaweb.org.
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