Narrows, Virginia – A group of Narrows Elementary and Middle School students will head to Orlando, Florida to compete in a national competition focused on STEM.
“TSA is a technical student association,” said Jennifer Shrewsberry, a sixth grade teacher at Narrows Elementary and Middle School and regional TSA advisor for the Blue Ridge area. “This helps kids develop the real skills they need in the workforce. They can compete in 37 different competitions at the secondary school level.”
The Technology Student Association is an organization focused on developing basic professional skills in children.
At Narrows Elementary/Middle School, a group of children is building community through their love of STEM.
“Every morning I go to Mr. Shrewsbury's room and work on building robots,” said John Cottle, a student at Narrows Elementary/Middle School. “I've been working on this robot, creating and refining the design.”
TSA hosts regional, state, and national competitions each year.
This year, Narrows Elementary/Middle School had 17 students compete in the state competition.
“I was a little nervous at the same time because I wanted to go to the national competition, but it was fun working with my friends,” said Jack Buckland, a student at Narrows Elementary and Middle School.
Now, those students will head to Orlando in June to compete in the national competition.
“I'm looking forward to going with my friends and having a good time,” Buckland said. “I hope we can get a national ranking and win.”
The teacher said these children deserved to succeed.
“They worked extremely hard,” Shrewsbury said. “They have put in countless hours.”
They are already looking ahead. They said they want more schools in the region to join TSA for next year.
“I want to work hard to get Blacksburg and Christiansburg to have TSA,” Cottle said. “That would bring more people to our area.”
They said it could be great for children across the region if more schools got involved.
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