PCHS Bulletin - Kylie Bouchard
Date Published - April 9, 2026
The technology student association (TSA) attended the 2026 State Conference from March 25-28 in Orlando. In all, 32 students competed in a variety of events. 18 of those events placed in semi-finals.
If the event qualified for semi-finals, or the equivalent next round of competition, teams participate in an interview or test their product/design to the judges. Then, at the awards ceremony, the finalists are announced including the top 3 who each receive a trophy.
The Board Game Design team earned second place, and the Children’s Stories team earned third place.
Additionally, the following events were finalists:
Animatronics
Chapter Team
Engineering Design
Fashion Design and Technology
Flight Endurance
Manufacturing Prototype
Photographic Technology
Solar Sprint
STEM Mass Media
Structural Design and Engineering
System Control Technology
Technology Bowl
Technology Problem Solving
Transportation Modeling
The next level of competition is Nationals in Washington, D.C. from June 22-26. Competing at nationals depends on the competition event. Children’s Stories is a qualifier event, by placing in the Top 3 at the state conference earned their spot.
TSA President Haven Wood says she is proud to see how hard their chapter worked before and during states, not only in their own events, but helping others and really showing team spirit.
Wood goes on to say, “it is amazing how much the program has grown this past year, and I can’t wait to see what they do in the future.”
Other events are “non-qualifiers” and may participate at nationals either way.
“So far, there are potentially 17 members attending nationals. We are working on fundraising to help us attend,” said Wood.
Additionally, TSA members Anna Dulovich, Lily Sutton, Alyvya Lester, and Sebastian Tello qualified for nationals in the Tests of Engineering Aptitude, Mathematics, and Science (TEAMS) event.
The TEAMS event took place at regionals on February 7 at Braden River High School. TEAMS is an annual science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) competition that challenges high school student teams to work collaboratively to solve real-world engineering challenges, applying their math and science knowledge in practical, creative ways. There were four parts; an essay, math modeling, design/build challenge, and a science test.
This event took place at regionals instead of the state conference due to time constraints.
Regionals saw additional success including three first place finishes in the Children Stories, Solar Sprint and Dragster events and a third place finish in the Chapter Team event.
Membership in TSA has grown tremendously with the addition of the new TSA classroom and lab at Parrish Community High School. It is also a young team with one senior, one junior, nine sophomores, and 21 freshmen.
The program has a lot of potential and is excited to see how they perform at nationals.