Bartlett High School Tech students take second in state

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 José 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; 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 advisers 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.