Conestoga Valley High School Hosts Technology Student Conference

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(TNS) — Conestoga Valley High School will open its doors Saturday to 350 sixth- through 12th-graders from Lancaster, Lebanon, and Berks counties for the Pennsylvania Technology Student Association regional conference.

More than 50 different events will be held at Conestoga Valley School District schools, giving students the opportunity to qualify for the TSA State Conference in April at the Westmoreland County Champion Seven Springs Resort. The district has hosted the annual conference every year since 2014, according to Chris Miller, Conestoga Valley TSA middle school advisor, art teacher, and conference director for the region (though the conference was held virtually). (excluding 2020).

TSA is a national organization of students interested in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) who have completed technology education courses. This includes more than 300,000 junior high and high school students.

TSA is for every student, Miller said. “Because we’re giving them problem-solving skills. We just find out what they’re interested in and help them develop their problem-solving skills,” he said.

The Pennsylvania TSA includes nine regions and holds eight regional conferences each year. Lancaster County is in Region 2, and 280 students from 15 schools in seven townships participated Saturday.

Miller, a 1992 graduate of Conestoga Valley, said he founded the district’s middle school TSA chapter in 1999. The high school chapter to which Mr. Miller belonged was founded in 1978.

Attendance at the Region 6 conference continues to grow and is approaching pre-COVID-19 levels, with this year’s attendance significantly higher than the more than 200 students who attended last year’s event Did.

Pre-COVID-19 peak attendance was 425 people.

TSA students preparing for a meeting

Evan Harner, a freshman at Conestoga Valley High School, attended his first regional TSA conference last year as an eighth-grader.

“It was really fun,” Harner said. “I plan on continuing that throughout my high school career.”

Harner is one of 19 students on the Conestoga Valley High School TSA team. His interest in technology, not only as a hobby but also as a potential career option, drew him to the club.

“The biggest thing we’re hearing from industry is, one, we need kids with a good work ethic, but two, we need kids who are flexible.” Mr. Miller said. “We need people who are independent thinkers, but we also need children who work well with others. We help develop the students who join her at TSA. It’s a different skill set.”

Harner said she wants to go into either computer engineering or computer science after high school, with an emphasis on coding and computer-related TSA events. For example, he and two of his other students work together on a Saturday to build a robot and develop and program the code within two hours.

“This year I’m going to be more focused and spend more time improving my abilities,” Harner said.

Miller said nearly every student at Conestoga Valley either competes in the event they’re registered for each year or advances to the state competition. Harner said the team continues to practice and is confident in the team’s ability to advance to the state tournament in April.