Trion TSA Comes Through in the Clutch

This past weekend, eleven members of the THS Technology Student Association (TSA) along with adviser Scott Petty traveled to Jekyll Island to participate in the TSA Fall Leadership Conference. The conference was named “Leadercon” this year due to its goal of increasing TSA members leadership, communication, and team building skills.

The Trion students attended a variety of sessions where they learned about how to lead an effective TSA chapter. Student Sophie Harward said, “We had tons of fun at the sessions and met lots of new, fun people!”

There were competitions for electrathon, VEX, and the armada boat race. THS students participated in the electrathon and the armada boat race.

The armada boat race is a competition where students from different schools create a boat that can hold people up through water, using only cardboard and duct tape! Their original boat was destroyed due to water damage from rain on the trip to Jekyll Island, and the team had to make a makeshift boat. The boat still performed and stayed afloat. In order to pass the test, the boat had to hold two members, Summer Vaughn and Kim Truong, as they paddled all the way across a pool using cardboard oars made by the club members.

Summer Vaughn was optimistic about the experience, and was very proud of the hard work the group put in to stay in the competition: “This weekend TSA faced many trials. With the help of our engineer-like thinking, we overcame adversity by rebuilding a cardboard boat inan hour and 30 minutes, while still succeeding in the challenge of not sinking the boat in the armada boat race.”

Senior club member Bailie Pence stated, “I’m very glad I participated and wish I would have done it sooner. We all became closer on this trip as a chapter.” Pence added, “We also had the opportunity to meet new people who shared the same interests. I highly recommend becoming a member of our TSA program.”

Contributing Author: Isabelle Walters

Published with permission of the Bulldog Barker