Lower Merion Students Shine At National Technology Competition

LOWER MERION TOWNSHIP, PA – A handful of Lower Merion middle and high school students excelled at the Technology Student Association National Conference and Competition in late June, according to the Lower Merion School District.

Students representing Lower Merion High School, Harriton High School, Welsh Valley Middle School, and Bala Cynwyd Middle School won 30 Top Ten awards, including five First Place awards at the TSA National Conference and Competition, held in Atlanta, Ga., June 22 through June 26.

Students chose from a variety of team and individual events and had to work together to qualify at regional and state competitions for the opportunity to compete at Nationals.

TSA has 250,000 student members across 48 states, so the competition at the national level is extremely challenging.

The theme of this year’s conference was "A Celebration of Success," as TSA marked its 40th anniversary of enhancing personal development, leadership and career opportunities in science, technology, engineering and math.

Bala Cynwyd Middle School:

Bala Cynwyd students placed in the Top Ten in eight different middle school events, including two First Place finishes for Leadership Strategies and Microcontroller Design. In addition, BCMS teacher Kevin Hughes was recognized as Chapter Advisor of the Year for the state of Pennsylvania. Hughes has been the TSA advisor at BCMS for 14 years.

• Chapter Team: 10th Place
• Electrical Applications: 4th Place
• Inventions and Innovations: 9th Place
• Leadership Strategies: 1st Place
• Microcontroller Design: 1st Place
• Problem Solving: 8th Place
• Tech Bowl: 9th Place
• Video Game Design: 7th Place

Welsh Valley Middle School:

Welsh Valley students placed in the Top Ten seven different middle school events.

• Challenging Technology Issues: 4th, 5th and 7th Place
• Chapter Team: 7th Place
• Coding: 5th Place
• Electrical Applications: 6th Place
• Medical Technology: 3rd Place
• Tech Bowl: 4th Place
• Video Game Design: 8th Place

Harriton High School:

Harriton students placed in the Top Ten in five different events, including a First Place finish in Biotechnology Design.

• Biotechnology Design: 1st Place
• Chapter Team Presentation: 4th Place
• Computer Integrated Manufacturing: 9th Place
• Future Technology Teacher: Charisma Hasan, 2nd Place
• Webmaster: 9th Place

Lower Merion High School:

Lower Merion students placed in the Top Ten in eight different events, including two First Place finishes for Chapter Team Presentation and Children’s Stories. Lower Merion’s team also took home a $500 prize for the LEAP Legacy Chapter competition, which recognizes their accomplishments in community service and leadership projects with the District’s elementary school students.

• Biotechnology Design: 2nd Place
• Chapter Team Presentation: 1st Place
• Children’s Stories: 1st Place
• Coding: 4th Place
• Fashion Design and Technology: 9th Place
• Promotional Design: Chris De Santis, 2nd Place
• STEM Careers: Katherine Wang, 7th Place
• Webmaster: 4th Place

Pictured above: Bala Cynwyd Middle School TSA team. In front row from left to right area Nathan Cengel, Ethan Rabbino, Bowen Ying, Brian Yi, Oliver Nickerson, Nicholas Stoios, Crosby Johnson, Krzysztof Jarocha, Miles Bertrand. In back row from left to right are Eric Yang, Vyomini Vakil, Phillip Gao, Ryan Hillis, Jonathan Xu, Justin Yi, Matthew Eichen, Jack Shapiro, Eric Nie

Images via Lower Merion School District