Fall 2015 

Vol. 9, Issue 3 

    
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In This Issue
Welcome! by Kelsey Stoner, National TSA President
Thank You for Your Membership, by Jack Crawford, National TSA Vice President
Celebrate National TSA Week with Photos and Fond Memories, by Sofia Atzrodt, National TSA Secretary
The State Officer Survey Can Be a Resource for All, by Cesia Flores, National TSA Treasurer
TSA Programs, by Trevor O'Connor, National TSA Sergeant-at-Arms
Starting a Chapter, by Chirag Agarwal, National TSA Reporter
Welcome!
By Kelsey Stoner, National TSA President
  
Earlier this summer, the newly elected national TSA officer team met in Reston, Virginia to develop their program of work. We are excited to share some of the things we will be working on during the 2015-2016 school year.   

The hashtag for the 2015-2016 school year is #TheTSAWay. Many chapters have already begun using the hashtag on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook to share their hard work and ideas with the rest of the TSA community. Members can look forward to a lot of communication with TSA and the national officers via social media this year, so don't forget to use #TheTSAWay on social media to be a part of the conversation. 

Members can also look forward to increased communication from the national TSA officer team to state delegations, a great National TSA Week (October 5th - 9th), and an inspiring 38th national TSA conference. Building your chapter membership, engaging in TSA competitions, leadership and state conferences, and culminating your year in Nashville for the 2016 national TSA conference in Nashville, Tennessee, June 28-July 2 are just some of the ways to ensure a successful year in TSA.  
 
The national TSA officers encourage all members to work their hardest to achieve greatness in 2015-2016. The TSA website is an excellent resource for information regarding TSA opportunities. Also, be sure to contact your national or state officers with questions or suggestions. We are here to serve the TSA membership and to help make your TSA experience the best it can be.

   
Thank You for Your Membership
By Jack Crawford, National TSA Vice President
  
TSA's membership has continued to increase over the past few years, providing more students the opportunity to participate in TSA competitions and enhance their STEM skills. During the 2014-2015 school year, there were over 2,000 TSA chapters with total membership that exceeded 233,000.   
TSA strives to recognize chapters that go above and beyond in various ways. One way TSA recognizes these chapters is through superlative membership awards. At the 2015 national TSA conference, Georgia was recognized for having the most chapters overall (high schools and middle schools) and Florida was recognized for having the most members overall with over 45,000 registered members. TSA also awarded the first ever membership growth awards at the 2015 national TSA conference; one for the state with the greatest middle school growth and one for the state with the greatest high school growth. Winners were determined by calculating the largest percentage growth from the previous year to the current year. These recognitions highlighted the hard work of chapters to recruit new members. Kentucky was awarded the Middle School Membership Growth Award and South Carolina was awarded the High School Membership Growth Award.   
TSA continues to grow every year. Help your chapter  contribute to this continued growth. 
  
Celebrate National TSA Week with Photos and Fond Memories
By Sofia Atzrodt, National TSA Secretary

This October, join over 230,000 members in celebrating National TSA Week, October 5th-9th.  This is the perfect time to help raise TSA awareness in your school, connect with new chapter members, or simply showing your love for this great organization.
 
To help you share your TSA spirit, TSA has organized a social media theme for each day. Post your responses to each day's theme on Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook for the TSA community to enjoy.  Start the week off on Monday by responding to Member Monday. Post a photo of what you enjoy most about being a TSA member and invite a friend to attend a TSA meeting. For Teammate Tuesday, post a photo of you and a teammate dressed in TSA attire while attending a conference, conducting a meeting, participating in a TSA leadership session, etc. On Women in STEM Wednesday, post a photo of your female chapter members competing at a conference or attending a chapter meeting or celebrate one of your role models by sharing the story and photo of a female STEM leader who has inspired you. For Throwback Thursday post a picture from your first TSA conference or a fond TSA memory. Wrap up a great week on Forever TSA Friday with a collage of all chapter photos related to TSA with a reminder that of how TSA helps shape our future.   

Each day presents the perfect opportunity to share your TSA story on social media or in school. Make sure to look for your friends' National TSA Week posts and reflect upon all of your TSA experiences.  The national officers look forward to sharing your National TSA Week celebration posts.  
 
 
The State Officer Survey Can Be a Resource for All
By Cesia Flores, National TSA Treasurer 
    
In an effort to enhance communication, this year's state officer team is conducting a survey of all state officers.  The 2015 state officer survey is a Google Forms survey designed to gather information and compile the best practices of TSA state delegations and their officers so as to serve as a resource to others.  A summary of the survey results will be published on the TSA website at a later date. The survey will be available for state officers to participate in during National TSA Week, October 5-9, 2015. All state officers are encouraged to participate.
The general types of questions that will be included in the survey will be similar to these: Do you know of any colleges/student programs that have TSA listed as an organization on their admissions application? Do you hold a college fair at your state conference? Is there something unique about your TSA state delegation's membership program that would be beneficial to other states? There will also be questions about the role of the officers in their state delegation.  Questions that will be included will be similar to these: How do you utilize social media to reach out to your membership? What tools do you use to make sure the state officer team is organized and up-to-date? How do you fundraise at your state conference and throughout the year for the American Cancer Society (ACS)? How do you publicize TSA at the state and local level?

I encourage all members to check out the survey results (when available) on the TSA website and to use the information as a resource for your own chapters.
 
  
TSA Programs
By Trevor O'Connor, National TSA Sergeant-at-Arms
[email protected]  
   
TSA is a leading career and technical student organization focused specifically on preparing student for futures in STEM. In addition to TSA's 60 middle and high school STEM-focused competitions, TSA has enhanced opportunities for our members through partnerships with numerous organizations who recognize TSA's great impact on the lives of tomorrow's leaders. Check out some of these exceptional TSA STEM Programs and competitions:

TEAMS(Tests of Engineering Aptitude, Mathematics, and Science) is a competition for middle and high school students where teams of four to eight students collaborate to solve real-world engineering problems. 
 
The TSA VEX Robotics Competition is a collaboration between TSA and VEX Robotics, Inc. where students are able to compete in a robotics competition as a TSA event and develop, build, and program their very own robotic craft.

The Verizon Innovative App Challenge is a competition where teams of five to seven students develop an original mobile app concept using STEM skills to solve a problem in their community.

TSA members have greatly benefited from these collaborations and programs. You can check out these programs and more at our national website, www.tsaweb.org. Teachers, please encourage your students to look into these programs, and students, get ready to the design the next mobile app or robot; the world is yours!
 
  
Starting a Chapter
By Chirag Agarwal, National TSA Reporter 
    
At 230,000 members, TSA is constantly growing and welcoming new members and chapters. Some schools, however, may not have a local TSA chapter but have students who are interested in joining TSA. Below is some advice for you to share with schools about how they can create a TSA chapter. 

Find an Advisor -Advisors of TSA chapters must be registered state-certified educators working in existing school facilities. It is recommended that a science, technology, engineering or mathematics teacher serve as a TSA chapter advisor. However, in cases where there is no such interested teacher, a state-certified educator may be appointed by the school's principal. The appointed advisor has the same rights and privileges of any advisor as long as s/he maintains the chapter in good standing.

Recruit Members - Work with your advisor to develop a strategy to recruit members. Ideas include putting up flyers around your school or using electronic messaging and social media to highlight the appeal of joining TSA or setting up a booth at your school's activity and career fair.  Ask teachers to inform students about the wonderful opportunities of our CTSO. The more members, the merrier!

Form a Strong Foundation -Make sure to form a strong officer team committed to carrying out their duties. Divide your events to the best of your ability; fairness comes first! Make sure your members know their deadlines, and that you have a reliable transportation system for conferences. Create a schedule for monthly meetings and find time during school day to work on events. Above all else, don't be afraid to ask for help! Established chapters and adults may be willing to lend a hand in your primary years. Their assistance will be golden. 

These tips are just some of the essentials needed to form a successful chapter. Forming a chapter is a tremendous endeavor, however, as with any organization, the best way to learn is with experience. I wish all of our new chapters the best of success so that they may help build our lasting TSA legacy!
 
 
Chapter Excellence Award Update
 
    
Beginning with the 2015-2016 school year, the number of Chapter Excellence Awards per state delegation will be reduced to one middle school and one high school annually.  This does not mean two per state, whereby there could be two middle schools or two high schools to receive this award.  Only one middle school and one high school per state delegation will receive this award each year.  For example, if a state delegation does not have a middle school to receive the award, then it will just have the one high school awarded.
 
 
2015 National TSA Conference Award Recognitions
 
    
The following award recipients were not recognized on stage at the recent 2015 national TSA conference: 

Justus Long of Apopka High School in Florida shared 6th place in HS Transportation Modeling.

Chattanooga School for the Arts in Tennessee placed 11th in HS Video Game Design.

Congratulations!
 
 
The Technology Student Association fosters personal growth, leadership, and opportunities in technology, innovation, design, and engineering. Members apply and integrate science, technology, engineering, and mathematics concepts through co-curricular activities, competitive events, and related programs.
School Scene (ISSN 1066-341X) is published three times a year by the Technology Student Association, 1914 Association Drive, Reston, VA 20191-1540. Telephone: 703-860-9000; Fax: 703-758-4852. Web site: www.tsaweb.org.
Copyright � 2008 TSA.