Bartlett high students earn medals, second place at tech conference
Bartlett High School's Technology Student Association earned second place in the State Conference held Feb. 13-14 in Bloomington.
The club was launched last year, includes students in ninth through 12th grade, and is a chapter of the national Technology Student Association, which provides growth and leadership opportunities in the areas of technology, innovation, design, and engineering to middle and high school students.
"The Technology Student Association club is the perfect training for students interested in pursuing careers in technology or engineering," said U-46 Superintendent Jose M. Torres. "Only in its second year, the Bartlett High School TSA club should be proud that its students are already demonstrating excellence at a state level."
Bartlett High School students who earned medals at the State Conference include:
• VEX Robotics: first place, Kartikey Desai, James Devereux, Ron Mikulecky
• Problem Solving 1: third place, Kartikey Desai and James Devereux
• Problem Solving 3: third place, Keval Amin and Marissa Rubino
• Extemporaneous Presentation: first place, Evan Hernandez
• Prepared Presentation: first place, Renee Winget
• Creed: first place, Vinita Choradia; second place - Sarah Kasi
• Technology Bowl Oral (Level One): first place, David Buenos
• Technical Design: third place, Jamie Schuberth
• CAD: first place, Sean White
• Imaging Technology: first place, Sarah Kasi; and third place, Vinita Choradia
• Promotional Graphics: first place, Rabab Zaidi
• Structural Engineering - Bridge: first place, Parth Patel
• Structural Engineering - Truss: first place, Sean White
During the competition, students built a functioning robot, constructed models to test their design efficiency, drafted engineering graphics, and developed graphic design that communicates safety. Students received assistance from Bartlett High School teachers and TSA Advisors Candace Quetsch and Gary Cotie.
At the national level, TSA has a partnership with Project Lead the Way which is already implemented at Bartlett High School and at each of U-46's five high schools and eight middle schools. According to Bartlett High School teacher Gary Cotie, the TSA club allows students to extend the knowledge used with PLTW curriculum in the classroom to compete on the state and national level. TSA also promotes competition with VEX Robotics equipment, which is a key component in the PLTW curriculum.