Following several months of prototyping, testing and more, Coppell High School students prepared their unique projects for the annual North Central Texas Regional Technology Student Association (TSA) Conference on Feb. 21-22 at Waxahachie High School.

Because of the COVID-19 virus, the Texas TSA Board of Directors has canceled the 2020 State Conference in Fort Worth. A Texas TSA virtual conference, however, is still being planned. Full details have not been announced yet.

As CHS’s first endeavor in participating in this conference, there were many uncertainties regarding the process, from discerning what may be appropriate for presentation to the level of competition at the conference.

“Since this was our first year, we didn’t know much about how the actual competition was going to go,” CHS sophomore Chandana Sirigireddy said. “We had no idea how many people we would be going up against either. So that meant we had to present our poster, which we weren’t completely ready for. But since we all knew our project well, it was easy for us to work together and create a cohesive and effective presentation.”

Additional obstacles included student absences, which affected participants who had to fill in for the empty positions.

“Another difficulty was the fact some of our officers were unable to make it due to being sick or for religious reasons so we had to be extra responsible for what happened that day,” CHS senior Adithya Pillai said. “I ended up going both days to compensate, getting home at 11 p.m. one day and getting back to school at 6 a.m. the next morning.”

Unexpectedly, Coppell swept the competition. Not only did 11 teams from Coppell advance to state, but each team from Coppell also placed in the top 10 of their division.

“I learned how amazing CHS students are,” CHS computer science teacher Michael McMillon said. “The game teams and the web team all made it through to state.  These students put a huge amount of work and effort into their projects and really did have some incredible projects.”

Students and teachers celebrated CHS’s accomplishments as they surpassed many experienced teams at the conference.

“One of my favorite memories from the conference was walking out of the room after our presentation and being really proud of my team,” Sirigireddy said. “Our presentation had gone really well as the judges were clearly interested and told us that they were impressed by our project. Another one of my favorite memories was finding out we had won and were moving on to the state conference. We hadn’t expected that at all, and it was really nice to know all the hard work we put in had paid off.”

The versatility of the conference makes it an experience that many can firmly recommend to anyone interested in innovating and executing their ideas.

“I would definitely recommend students participate in TSA conferences if they’re interested in STEM,” Sirigireddy said. “There are so many different events you can compete in from engineering design to fashion design; you will definitely be able to find something that interests you. It’s also nice to be a part of something bigger than yourself and win something for your school. It’s just a feeling you can’t find in many other things. Also, you will learn a lot about teamwork and make new friends because you’ll be paired with students from other grades and classes and you’ll have to figure out how to make it work.”

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