Coppell High School’s halls bustle with students holding various objects, ranging from computers to 3D diagrams as excited chatter fills the atmosphere. First time competitors to seasoned veterans talked animatedly about their technological interests.

Last Friday and Saturday, the Coppell Technology Student Association (TSA) hosted the annual regional competition, taking place in the CHS hallways and cafeteria with several events throughout both days. It took a lot of preparation, especially because it was Coppell’s first time holding the competition.

“Setting up took a huge team,” Coppell High School senior TSA President Apurva Betgar said. “From all of our student volunteers to adult volunteers to judges, everyone had a role to set up despite some errors with technology.”

TSA rules allow each competitor to participate in as many events as they would like. Many took on more projects based on their aptitudes and interests. The teams worked together to create pieces from tri-folds to models all capturing the variety of technological prompts they were given to expand on.

“I like expanding my interests so competing in different events gave me the opportunity to explore different avenues,” CHS senior TSA committee chair Pranamya Pagedar said.

In addition to celebrating a successful ending to the weekend, Coppell TSA had more to cheer for.

CHS junior Naisha Jain was elected Region 11 president and CHS junior Lakshmi Gorthi was named regional reporter. The CHS TSA advisor is Mike Yakubovsky.

“When Mr. Yakubovsky [the current Region 11 Board President] announced my name, I was shocked and relieved,” Jain said. “Even a day later, I am still trying to soak in that I won because it is a dream that came true.”

The election of Regional President was well deserved as Jain put in the effort to shape the future of the program. The process was a long one, an opportunity she was able to obtain by creating the foundation of the program overseeing the region. In January, she was able to organize a conference for the regional program.

“In October, Mr. Yakubovsky asked me if I wanted to establish the regional officer program,” Jain said. “I worked for months to bring this program to life, and I wanted to have a role beyond our chapter’s to promote our organization.”

As the program develops and evolves in quality, the members mature into different competitors. For the senior TSA members, the competition is one of their lasts in high school, marking the event as a bittersweet moment.

“It’s sad that this is my last regional competition, but I was really proud to see how far our teams have come,” Betgar said.

The contestants will soon get their results back and see who will advance to state.

Follow Maya (@mvpalovalley) and @CHSCampusNews on Twitter.