From Staff Reports
Staff Reporter
CLAREMORE —
Claremore Technology Student Association (TSA) returned this month after nearly two weeks in Baltimore and Washington D.C.
The TSA advisor and Technology Engineering instructor at Will Rogers Junior High, David Isenbart, along with Suzie Woods and Teresa Dexter, took 15 students from Claremore Junior High and High School to the 2010 National TSA Conference in Baltimore, Md. from June 28 to July 2.
More than 4,300 TSA members nationwide competed in more than 60 competitive events based on principles and concepts learned through activities during the school year in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) subjects.
Will Rogers Junior High and Claremore High School students prepare throughout the school year to compete in STEM events such as Chapter Team, CAD, Dragster Design, Engineering Design, Flight Endurance, Technology Bowl, Medical Technology, Promotional Graphics, Robotics, On Demand Video, Film, Lights Camera Action, Transportation Modeling, Problem Solving, and many more.
Claremore TSA did well again this year winning two national championships, one 2nd place and one 3rd place with two other top 10 finishes.
The students who earned the national championship in Chapter Team (parliamentary procedures) were Kaitlyn Clements, Andrew Isenbart, Forrest Farjadian, Hannah Newman, Bronwyn Burkhardt, and Felicity Owens. Shawn Swatek earned a National Championship in Flight Endurance.
The team that placed 2nd in the nation in Lights Camera Action consisted of Ashley Isenbart and Sarah Brown. Dylan Wentz earned 3rd in the nation in an event called 3D CAD with Animation (Computer Aided Drafting). Kaitlyn Clements and Shawn Swatek both had two other top 10 finishes.
The whole state of Oklahoma only brought home five trophies and Claremore brought home four of those.
This is the fourth time in the last five years that Claremore has been the best team in the state at national competition.
This was a great competition not only for those who brought home hardware but also for those who didn’t. Those who did not win this year were all first-year competitors and they left the conference hungry for a win.
Madeline Clark summed it up when she said “Mr. Isenbart, next year I WILL be up there on the stage, because I know now what I have to do to win.”
Claremore TSA also has two state officers at the national conference, Vice President Andrew Hocutt and Eastern Regional Representative Felicity Owens. Kaitlyn Clements was the liaison between ACS and National TSA. She was in charge of all of the ACS activities for the week including the TSA/ACS Celebrate, Remember, Fight Back commemorative event.
In order to be a consistent force on the national level Claremore TSA is all-business during the competition, attending every TSA meeting or activity that does not interfere with their competition like the TSA Leadership Academy. This year they also got to participate in a TSA night at Camden Yards Stadium as the Baltimore Orioles took on the Oakland Athletics.
After the conference, Claremore TSA spent three more days in Washington D.C. They visited several monuments and museums as well as Mount Vernon. On the Fourth of July they saw the Constitution, The Bill of Rights, the Declaration of Independence, and watched the fireworks on the lawn right in front of the Washington Monument.
Students attending the conference were Kaitlyn Clements, Shawn Swatek, Dylan Wentz, Andrew Isenbart, Forrest Farjadian, Andrew Hocutt, Felicity Owens, Bronwyn Burkhardt, Hanna Newman, Ashley Isenbart, Sarah Brown, John Dexter, Jessica Hammer, Alli Russo, and Madeline Clark.
