At 8 a.m. Feb. 22, 149 members of the school’s Technology Student Association (TSA) chapter who advanced to TSA’s state conference headed into the Denver Marriott Tech Center Hotel, decked from head to toe in business professional attire in preparation for their three days of competition.

TSA, a career and technical student organization (CTSO), provides students with the opportunity to sharpen their STEM skills, leadership, creativity and collaboration through competitive events on district, state and national scales. Members of the school who qualified for the state conference competed and placed at a district or school level during the TSA district conference held at Legacy Campus on Dec. 8.

“After districts, me and my teams used the feedback that we got from districts to work on improving our projects for State,” TSA member Ihita Kataru ‘26 said.

Over the course of Feb. 22 to Feb. 24, the state-qualifying students participated in 35 STEM-based events, tests and projects.

Each event had two submission types: early submissions took place for some events and on-site submissions took place for other events involving physical supplementary materials. Each event selected qualifying students for semifinal interview-style presentations to demonstrate their project and determine the final rankings for each team/individual’s event at the closing ceremony.

The three-day conference opened with chapter faculty check-in from 8 to 9 a.m., followed by on-site project submissions from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. During the project submissions, semifinal interview presentations for selected early submission teams took place.

On-site submissions teams were judged throughout the day with subsequent semifinal interview presentations for them taking place later in the day, and throughout the rest of the conference. In their free time, students were able to use meal tickets for lunch and dinner and explore the hotel’s amenities. The opening ceremony took place at 8:30 p.m.

“As a state officer, [TSA] was easily one of the busiest times of the year but I really did enjoy it,” Sen Yakandawala ‘26 said. “It was super enjoyable being able to see all of the other chapters and delegations doing super well this year while also having fun at the social events we hosted.”

In the following days, semifinal interview presentations continued on and several social activities took place. Colorado TSA and their state conference committees operated merchandise shops, workshops, officer meet and greets and social activities.

Activities offered by Colorado TSA’s Social Activities Committee included a Jumbo Jenga tournament, scavenger hunt, escape room, industry workshops, networking events and an “Officer Pie in the Face” fundraiser.

Shreya Ganesh ‘24 and Sen Yakandawala ‘26 got pied in the face after their donation bins received the most amount of funds to be donated to the organization’s scholarship fund for students attending the TSA national conference in June. 

“As someone who served on the fundraising committee, I’m so glad that our pieing initiative was really successful and I cannot be more grateful for the huge turnout that we received,” Ganesh said.

As events wrapped up, the conference’s closing ceremony took place at 9:30 a.m. Feb. 24. The closing ceremony recognized several sectors and programs of Colorado TSA, unveiled the 2024-2025 state officer team, with two Rock Canyon students on the board–Junior Officer Sen Yakandawala ‘26 and State President Hana Lee ‘25–and announced the final rankings of teams in each event.

31 teams and individual Jags placed within the top three across 22 events.

Cierra Lorenz ‘26 and her team took home third place in Manufacturing Prototype.

“Working on manufacturing was very fun, as I got to work with my friends to develop a product that combined all of our talents,” Lorenz said. “Ultimately, I am very happy with placing third and grateful to go against such talented competitors.”

After the closing ceremony, students grabbed their luggage and projects and headed home for the rest of the weekend. Teams that placed within the top three of any event are eligible to move on to TSA’s national conference in Orlando, Florida from June 26-30.

“TSA state was one of [my] most memorable moments this year. It’s something that I look forward to every year just because of the fun experiences that come along with it. As a school, we have a really strong chapter that performs better than almost all other schools and that is something that I’m really proud about, being in such a strong and unified community,” TSA member Aryan Pagar ‘24 said. “Thanks to Mr. Cassic, all of our advisors and also our officers, TSA State was truly a great experience where I had the opportunity to get some real-world STEM experience, and I also had the opportunity to connect closer with friends of like-minded interests. I highly encourage people to participate in TSA and I hope to see more people join the organization next year.”