Are you interested in enhancing your career and technical education (CTE) program and inspiring your students to become science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) leaders? The Technology Student Association (TSA) provides support for such goals. As a TSA chapter advisor, you can help your students pursue their STEM aspirations and enrich their post-secondary and career opportunities. When your students are TSA members, they become part of a national career and technical student organization (CTSO) that promotes and recognizes excellence in STEM.
Benefits of TSA membership:
Competitive Events
Each year TSA brings together leading technology and engineering educators with hands-on classroom experience to revise, review, and develop competitions at the middle or high school level. All middle school competitions and high school competitions are correlated with national STEM standards, and they have detailed scoring criteria for judging. TSA competitions can be integrated into the classroom curriculum and implemented at the local, state, and national levels.
TSA offers over 75 competitive events at the middle and high school levels combined. Following are two former competitive events; they show the detail and scope of TSA’s competitions, as well as the criteria for the evaluation process.
Resources for Chapter Management
Once a chapter is affiliated, the chapter advisor will have access to the competitive events guide for the affiliated level (middle or high school) and a broad range of resources to help run and maintain a chapter, such as:
Leadership
TSA believes acquiring 21st century leadership skills is critical to the future success of young people and, therefore, features these aptitudes in its competitions.
Communications
Throughout the year, national TSA communicates with TSA chapter advisors in a variety of ways, including:
- Emails with important and timely information, including reminders and deadlines related to the National TSA Conference
- Social media updates on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram
- A password-protected chapter advisor site with information on competitive events, membership promotion, and chapter organization
Regional, State, and National Events
Many TSA state delegations host a fall leadership conference, regional conferences, and a state conference in the spring. These events provide student members the opportunity to apply and test their STEM skills. The events also provide an occasion for chapter advisors to collaborate with other like-minded educators, administrators, parents, and community leaders.
Members also may attend and/or compete at the annual national TSA conference in June. TSA membership is required to participate in any TSA event at the local, state, or national level.