Liberty Takes 2nd in Robotics 5th Overall, 2nd in Prepared Speech, 3rd in Structural Engineering at 39th Annual NCTSA State Conference
BLOWING ROCK SCHOOL WINS REGIONAL 3-D PRINTING COMPETITION, LIBERTY TAKES SECOND
Hickory, NC, March 21, 2018 – The North Carolina Center for Engineering Technologies (NCCET), a division of
Appalachian State University, recently concluded its 2018 Direct Digital Manufacturing Competition and Blowing Rock
School was recognized as the overall winner of this year’s event. The Direct Digital Manufacturing Competition is open
for middle schools and high schools in western North Carolina in an effort to create after-school clubs where student
teams design, develop, and build a project to be judged and tested based on pre-determined criteria. This year’s
competition, sponsored by BULLWHEEL, LLC, was for competing schools to design, develop, and produce a working
catapult that can launch balls towards a target with precision and consistency. A total of thirteen schools, representing
Alexander County, Burke County, Caldwell County, Hickory City and Watauga County School Districts submitted
completed projects to be tested.
"It is always a pleasure to see these students and the caliber of work they produce. These projects allow students to fully
immerse themselves into a design process that not only celebrates successes but sees the value in lessons learned from
failures. I think this skill set is one that will reward the students involved and the local economy in the years to come."
Paul Gantt, CTE-Engineering Instructor, Patton High School.
The Direct Digital Manufacturing Competition was started in 2016 as a way to engage students in 3-D printing and
additive manufacturing. Randy Burns, Engineering Technologist, with the NCCET, stated that “As this technology
continues to evolve and grow it is important to engage the future workforce and prepare them for careers and
opportunities that will exist when they enter the job market. We hope that this competition will spark an interest in
engineering that will propel students to further training and education in this vital field.”
Winners of this year’s competition include Blowing Rock School (First Place - Middle School Division and First Place
Overall); Alexander Central High School (First Place - High School Division) and Liberty Middle School (Runner-Up –
Middle School Division). Blowing Rock School was awarded a new 3-D printer for finishing first place overall and both
Alexander Central High School and Liberty Middle School were awarded $500 cash prizes to use for materials that
support S.T.E.M. (Science, Technology, Engineering & Math) related programs. Liberty team consisted of Jackson Anthony, Kaylee Davis, Connor Pinkerton and Kinsey Snodgrass. All prizes were made possible by the
generous support of John Wiley and BULLWHEEL, LLC through their sponsorship of this event.
About the North Carolina Center for Engineering Technologies (NCCET): The North Carolina Center for Engineering
Technologies provides facilities for applied research in engineering related fields and serves as a conduit to
baccalaureate education delivered by the University of North Carolina system schools.
Conceived as a community supported higher education effort in technical and engineering disciplines, this Center was
established through a collaboration of business, government and higher education organized as the Future Forward
Economic Alliance. The Center may collaborate with other schools in bringing the best programs to the region to meet
the employment needs.
If you would like more information about the NCCET or this release, please contact Michael McNally at 828-328- 6183 or
email at [email protected].
Appalachian State University, recently concluded its 2018 Direct Digital Manufacturing Competition and Blowing Rock
School was recognized as the overall winner of this year’s event. The Direct Digital Manufacturing Competition is open
for middle schools and high schools in western North Carolina in an effort to create after-school clubs where student
teams design, develop, and build a project to be judged and tested based on pre-determined criteria. This year’s
competition, sponsored by BULLWHEEL, LLC, was for competing schools to design, develop, and produce a working
catapult that can launch balls towards a target with precision and consistency. A total of thirteen schools, representing
Alexander County, Burke County, Caldwell County, Hickory City and Watauga County School Districts submitted
completed projects to be tested.
"It is always a pleasure to see these students and the caliber of work they produce. These projects allow students to fully
immerse themselves into a design process that not only celebrates successes but sees the value in lessons learned from
failures. I think this skill set is one that will reward the students involved and the local economy in the years to come."
Paul Gantt, CTE-Engineering Instructor, Patton High School.
The Direct Digital Manufacturing Competition was started in 2016 as a way to engage students in 3-D printing and
additive manufacturing. Randy Burns, Engineering Technologist, with the NCCET, stated that “As this technology
continues to evolve and grow it is important to engage the future workforce and prepare them for careers and
opportunities that will exist when they enter the job market. We hope that this competition will spark an interest in
engineering that will propel students to further training and education in this vital field.”
Winners of this year’s competition include Blowing Rock School (First Place - Middle School Division and First Place
Overall); Alexander Central High School (First Place - High School Division) and Liberty Middle School (Runner-Up –
Middle School Division). Blowing Rock School was awarded a new 3-D printer for finishing first place overall and both
Alexander Central High School and Liberty Middle School were awarded $500 cash prizes to use for materials that
support S.T.E.M. (Science, Technology, Engineering & Math) related programs. Liberty team consisted of Jackson Anthony, Kaylee Davis, Connor Pinkerton and Kinsey Snodgrass. All prizes were made possible by the
generous support of John Wiley and BULLWHEEL, LLC through their sponsorship of this event.
About the North Carolina Center for Engineering Technologies (NCCET): The North Carolina Center for Engineering
Technologies provides facilities for applied research in engineering related fields and serves as a conduit to
baccalaureate education delivered by the University of North Carolina system schools.
Conceived as a community supported higher education effort in technical and engineering disciplines, this Center was
established through a collaboration of business, government and higher education organized as the Future Forward
Economic Alliance. The Center may collaborate with other schools in bringing the best programs to the region to meet
the employment needs.
If you would like more information about the NCCET or this release, please contact Michael McNally at 828-328- 6183 or
email at [email protected].
Team awarded at technology conference, raising money for state competition
On Feb. 23, the Technology Student Association at Liberty Middle School recently traveled to Boone for the Western Regional TSA Conference and received several awards.
There were over 700 students from the Western part of North Carolina and over 20 schools from both high school and middle schools present.
Students competed in VEX Robotics, problem solving, structural engineering, medical technology, video game design, Junior Solar Sprint, CO2 Dragster, and prepared speech.
Out of those competitive events, LMS took second in Structural Engineering, which required students to build a scaled down pedestrian bridge which had the greatest efficiency. Paperwork and aesthetics were also taken into account for judging. This team consisted of Garren Bryant and Cole Whisnant.
They received third place in Junior Solar Sprint, which required students to build a model car out of balsa wood, mount a small solar panel and wire the vehicle so it could handle either power coming from the panel or a battery pack. Students also had paperwork to submit that explained the design of the vehicle. They also created a box that was decorated. This team consisted of Hailey Snodgrass, Keiven LaFevers and Kamden Stephens.
They received third place in Video Game Design. The challenge was centered around designing a video game about a specific sport. Our team chose a racing game they named RACSAN. This team consisted of Hannah Fleming and Vance Jones.
The team is planning on attending the state conference, which is held in Greensboro in April. For those who would like to donate to hotel room costs and travel expenses can visit www.gofundme.com/state-and-national-competition-fund.
There were over 700 students from the Western part of North Carolina and over 20 schools from both high school and middle schools present.
Students competed in VEX Robotics, problem solving, structural engineering, medical technology, video game design, Junior Solar Sprint, CO2 Dragster, and prepared speech.
Out of those competitive events, LMS took second in Structural Engineering, which required students to build a scaled down pedestrian bridge which had the greatest efficiency. Paperwork and aesthetics were also taken into account for judging. This team consisted of Garren Bryant and Cole Whisnant.
They received third place in Junior Solar Sprint, which required students to build a model car out of balsa wood, mount a small solar panel and wire the vehicle so it could handle either power coming from the panel or a battery pack. Students also had paperwork to submit that explained the design of the vehicle. They also created a box that was decorated. This team consisted of Hailey Snodgrass, Keiven LaFevers and Kamden Stephens.
They received third place in Video Game Design. The challenge was centered around designing a video game about a specific sport. Our team chose a racing game they named RACSAN. This team consisted of Hannah Fleming and Vance Jones.
The team is planning on attending the state conference, which is held in Greensboro in April. For those who would like to donate to hotel room costs and travel expenses can visit www.gofundme.com/state-and-national-competition-fund.
Morganton Public Safety show off robot to LMS students.
December 18, 2017
Liberty Knights Automation and Robotics class was visited by MPS (Morganton Public Safety) on Monday where they showed students the robot used to pick up suspicious packages and acquire data from dangerous areas. Captain Bowman, Investigator Goforth and Stotts talked with students about the importance of having this robot and also amount of training they had to go through in order to be the ones to operate this robot.
The robot itself cost MPS about 25,000 dollars to purchase and is able to put itself into harmful situations in which a human would normally have to. Students were able to use the robot to retrieve and place "suspicious packages" into safety zones. MPS acquired the robot a year ago and since has been used one time in a situation in which it had to retrieve a 20 oz. bottle that was considered suspicious and harmful. It weighs in at 70 lbs and has a range of up to 1 mile from the control device.
Liberty Knights Automation and Robotics class was visited by MPS (Morganton Public Safety) on Monday where they showed students the robot used to pick up suspicious packages and acquire data from dangerous areas. Captain Bowman, Investigator Goforth and Stotts talked with students about the importance of having this robot and also amount of training they had to go through in order to be the ones to operate this robot.
The robot itself cost MPS about 25,000 dollars to purchase and is able to put itself into harmful situations in which a human would normally have to. Students were able to use the robot to retrieve and place "suspicious packages" into safety zones. MPS acquired the robot a year ago and since has been used one time in a situation in which it had to retrieve a 20 oz. bottle that was considered suspicious and harmful. It weighs in at 70 lbs and has a range of up to 1 mile from the control device.
Students create product, pitch design to local industry
JONELLE BOBAK Staff Writer Nov 27, 2017 Updated Dec 8, 2017
A group of students from Liberty Middle School who have created and built a product centered around memorializing pets presented the project to a local industry that may end up partnering with them.
Clay Nelson’s eighth grade engineering class participated in Filling the Gap, a project put out by STEM West and implemented by Carol Moore, who serves as a STEM West coordinator. The class was given a grant and partnered with SpartaCraft, an industry located in Connelly Springs that specializes in woodwork and flag cases.
The students arrived at SpartaCraft on Tuesday morning to present their findings and pitch their product to officials with the local industry, including David Maguire, vice president of sales and marketing, Kaila Ashley, senior marketing manager, and Don Clark, president of SpartaCraft.
Maguire contacted Nelson asking if his class would be willing to try and make a pet memorabilia product that SpartaCraft was looking into producing themselves.
“It is a really out-there idea and it was hard to sell them (the students) on it,” Nelson said.
Students eventually came on board with the project when Maguire visited the school and spoke to them about the idea and the fact there are million-dollar markets out there for pet memorabilia.
“Once they bought into it, I didn’t really have to do anything to keep the ball rolling,” Nelson said. “They were very much the one that supplied the fire that was burning them to the end.”
Students Dillon Patton, Hannah Payne, Garren Bryant and Aaron Berry presented their product titled “Pet Treasures” in front of the company officials and their classmates in the conference room at SpartaCraft.
The explained how they split into a marketing team and a building team and chose to create a product similar to a shadow box with a drawer and clear glass panel on the front. The product offers a way for pet owners to put their “fallen” pet’s treasures inside as a way to remember them.
Students designed four shadow boxes and built them within four or five days of visiting SpartaCraft. They created a job for each student to take on similar to an assembly line, Nelson said.
After signing permission slips, students were able to use different types of tools including circular saw, ban saw and sanders.
The marketing group then drew up a storyline for a commercial for the product that SpartaCraft employees helped put together with the video clips the students filmed.
“We came up with the idea of this girl and she has lost her pet and she orders this product and she starts putting objects in and she remembers the memories that she had with her pet,” said Hannah Payne, one of the student’s in Nelson’s class. “Every time she looks at it, it is a good reminder of the memories she had with her pet.”
Maguire spoke with the students after the commercial was shown at the end of their presentation and told them they should think about presenting to their whole school.
“You have learned in six weeks how to develop and market your product from scratch and you can take that with you anywhere you go for the rest of your lives,” Maguire told the students.
Maguire was impressed how the students worked together to complete a project of this stature in a limited amount of time.
“As you are all designing a product collectively you are all different in the way that you are actually thinking about it,” Maguire said.
“I don’t think it could have felt more like an actual business production than it did because it was very stressful,” Nelson said.
He wants his students to realize the importance of having skilled workers who know and understand an industrial trade.
“The amount of skilled workers that we have are not that many. Yes, we have them, but they are kind of diminishing,” he said. “Being able to put value on (that type of) skill in students is a huge thing right now because for the longest time people have always looked down on people with skilled jobs.”
These stereotypes need to be changed and those type jobs should be “bolstered” up, Nelson said.
“I don’t know if the students are getting a good understanding of what it means to work hard and feel good about accomplishing something good anymore … they get it in sports, but even then it is not centered (on) anything that is using your brain and hands together to create,” Nelson said.
He wanted the students to go through all the steps of brainstorming, developing, creating a marketing plan and presenting to a local industry so they would get a taste of what seeing a project through until the end would feel like.
“They now know they have skills and can create this amazing thing, and they worked with some high-up employees in a company in their county that may actually employ them some day,” Nelson said. “Businesses and industry are telling us what they want to employ and this program teaches those exact things they are looking for; pride in one's work, good work ethic, problem solving skills and teamwork.”
After the presentation, students were led on a tour of the facility and get a first-hand look at how some of their products are made.
“I am super pleased with the way it came out and I was thoroughly impressed with how they handled all of it and took it seriously,” Nelson said.
Staff Writer Jonelle Bobak can be reached at [email protected] or 828-432-8907.
A group of students from Liberty Middle School who have created and built a product centered around memorializing pets presented the project to a local industry that may end up partnering with them.
Clay Nelson’s eighth grade engineering class participated in Filling the Gap, a project put out by STEM West and implemented by Carol Moore, who serves as a STEM West coordinator. The class was given a grant and partnered with SpartaCraft, an industry located in Connelly Springs that specializes in woodwork and flag cases.
The students arrived at SpartaCraft on Tuesday morning to present their findings and pitch their product to officials with the local industry, including David Maguire, vice president of sales and marketing, Kaila Ashley, senior marketing manager, and Don Clark, president of SpartaCraft.
Maguire contacted Nelson asking if his class would be willing to try and make a pet memorabilia product that SpartaCraft was looking into producing themselves.
“It is a really out-there idea and it was hard to sell them (the students) on it,” Nelson said.
Students eventually came on board with the project when Maguire visited the school and spoke to them about the idea and the fact there are million-dollar markets out there for pet memorabilia.
“Once they bought into it, I didn’t really have to do anything to keep the ball rolling,” Nelson said. “They were very much the one that supplied the fire that was burning them to the end.”
Students Dillon Patton, Hannah Payne, Garren Bryant and Aaron Berry presented their product titled “Pet Treasures” in front of the company officials and their classmates in the conference room at SpartaCraft.
The explained how they split into a marketing team and a building team and chose to create a product similar to a shadow box with a drawer and clear glass panel on the front. The product offers a way for pet owners to put their “fallen” pet’s treasures inside as a way to remember them.
Students designed four shadow boxes and built them within four or five days of visiting SpartaCraft. They created a job for each student to take on similar to an assembly line, Nelson said.
After signing permission slips, students were able to use different types of tools including circular saw, ban saw and sanders.
The marketing group then drew up a storyline for a commercial for the product that SpartaCraft employees helped put together with the video clips the students filmed.
“We came up with the idea of this girl and she has lost her pet and she orders this product and she starts putting objects in and she remembers the memories that she had with her pet,” said Hannah Payne, one of the student’s in Nelson’s class. “Every time she looks at it, it is a good reminder of the memories she had with her pet.”
Maguire spoke with the students after the commercial was shown at the end of their presentation and told them they should think about presenting to their whole school.
“You have learned in six weeks how to develop and market your product from scratch and you can take that with you anywhere you go for the rest of your lives,” Maguire told the students.
Maguire was impressed how the students worked together to complete a project of this stature in a limited amount of time.
“As you are all designing a product collectively you are all different in the way that you are actually thinking about it,” Maguire said.
“I don’t think it could have felt more like an actual business production than it did because it was very stressful,” Nelson said.
He wants his students to realize the importance of having skilled workers who know and understand an industrial trade.
“The amount of skilled workers that we have are not that many. Yes, we have them, but they are kind of diminishing,” he said. “Being able to put value on (that type of) skill in students is a huge thing right now because for the longest time people have always looked down on people with skilled jobs.”
These stereotypes need to be changed and those type jobs should be “bolstered” up, Nelson said.
“I don’t know if the students are getting a good understanding of what it means to work hard and feel good about accomplishing something good anymore … they get it in sports, but even then it is not centered (on) anything that is using your brain and hands together to create,” Nelson said.
He wanted the students to go through all the steps of brainstorming, developing, creating a marketing plan and presenting to a local industry so they would get a taste of what seeing a project through until the end would feel like.
“They now know they have skills and can create this amazing thing, and they worked with some high-up employees in a company in their county that may actually employ them some day,” Nelson said. “Businesses and industry are telling us what they want to employ and this program teaches those exact things they are looking for; pride in one's work, good work ethic, problem solving skills and teamwork.”
After the presentation, students were led on a tour of the facility and get a first-hand look at how some of their products are made.
“I am super pleased with the way it came out and I was thoroughly impressed with how they handled all of it and took it seriously,” Nelson said.
Staff Writer Jonelle Bobak can be reached at [email protected] or 828-432-8907.
Kids learn about STEM initiatives, explore engineering during camp
Just because school is out for the summer doesn't mean the minds of some children in Burke County aren't still brewing with imagination.
The Foothills High Education Center in Morganton was home to the fourth annual Burke Engineering Camp for elementary school students that ran from June 26-30.
Each day of the camp the students learned about different areas of science, technology, engineering and math, including civil, chemical, electrical, biomedical, aerospace and robotics engineering. The camp was organized by Christie McMahon, principal at W.A. Young Elementary; Clay Nelson, a teacher at Liberty Middle School; Brandon Hensley, W estern Piedmont Community College department head of engineering , and Megan Lovins, a teacher in Caldwell County.
“We try to give them a mix of things so that way they can get an idea of all the different options because engineering is so broad,” McMahon said.
She hopes the camp gave students the knowledge that engineering has many different facets to it and that it is not just bridge building, she said.
Students sometimes are overwhelmed by the term engineering and the purpose of the camp was to break down the subject to help students understand that they could have a future in the field, she said.
During the camp, students were able to make their own bouncy ball, bubble gum, compact disc, hovercrafts, pop rockets and marble mazes.
“Our emphasis is on the process and the redesign process,” McMahon said. “We preface really well during the week when we introduce it that this is all a process and that engineers sometimes don’t get the right answer the very first time and sometimes they have to go through multiple times in order to get the right answer.”
On Friday, student s constructed marble mazes with foam paper, popsicle sticks, pipe cleaners, paper cups and pizza boxes, learning about the laws of motion and force.
They also were given materials including newspaper, card stock and tape to create a paper rocket to launch from a PVC pipe using air pressure.
After creating their first draft of the rocket , they launched the rockets and observed what they could modify for the second draft rocket.
Many of the students were able to launch their rockets f a rther the second time.
“The camp also builds (their collaboration skills) and being able to partner with somebody else and share ideas,” McMahon said. “They come up with different designs and they have to figure out which one they think will work best.”
The overall purpose of the camp is to excite student s about STEM education and to see if they would be interested in a future career in those types of fields, she said.
“If we can get them fired up and excited about these types of things at a younger age, they are more likely to pursue a career in that field in the future,” McMahon said.
Some kids come to the camp not having any interest in math or engineering, but hopefully their opinions might be swayed after the camp is over, she said.
The camp is an outreach program with North Carolina State University. Western Piedmont Community College and Burke Development Inc. are supporters and sponsors of the program.
“We are just really thankful that they have come on board to help make this happen,” McMahon said.
Staff Writer Jonelle Bobak can be reached at [email protected] or 828-432-8907.
The Foothills High Education Center in Morganton was home to the fourth annual Burke Engineering Camp for elementary school students that ran from June 26-30.
Each day of the camp the students learned about different areas of science, technology, engineering and math, including civil, chemical, electrical, biomedical, aerospace and robotics engineering. The camp was organized by Christie McMahon, principal at W.A. Young Elementary; Clay Nelson, a teacher at Liberty Middle School; Brandon Hensley, W estern Piedmont Community College department head of engineering , and Megan Lovins, a teacher in Caldwell County.
“We try to give them a mix of things so that way they can get an idea of all the different options because engineering is so broad,” McMahon said.
She hopes the camp gave students the knowledge that engineering has many different facets to it and that it is not just bridge building, she said.
Students sometimes are overwhelmed by the term engineering and the purpose of the camp was to break down the subject to help students understand that they could have a future in the field, she said.
During the camp, students were able to make their own bouncy ball, bubble gum, compact disc, hovercrafts, pop rockets and marble mazes.
“Our emphasis is on the process and the redesign process,” McMahon said. “We preface really well during the week when we introduce it that this is all a process and that engineers sometimes don’t get the right answer the very first time and sometimes they have to go through multiple times in order to get the right answer.”
On Friday, student s constructed marble mazes with foam paper, popsicle sticks, pipe cleaners, paper cups and pizza boxes, learning about the laws of motion and force.
They also were given materials including newspaper, card stock and tape to create a paper rocket to launch from a PVC pipe using air pressure.
After creating their first draft of the rocket , they launched the rockets and observed what they could modify for the second draft rocket.
Many of the students were able to launch their rockets f a rther the second time.
“The camp also builds (their collaboration skills) and being able to partner with somebody else and share ideas,” McMahon said. “They come up with different designs and they have to figure out which one they think will work best.”
The overall purpose of the camp is to excite student s about STEM education and to see if they would be interested in a future career in those types of fields, she said.
“If we can get them fired up and excited about these types of things at a younger age, they are more likely to pursue a career in that field in the future,” McMahon said.
Some kids come to the camp not having any interest in math or engineering, but hopefully their opinions might be swayed after the camp is over, she said.
The camp is an outreach program with North Carolina State University. Western Piedmont Community College and Burke Development Inc. are supporters and sponsors of the program.
“We are just really thankful that they have come on board to help make this happen,” McMahon said.
Staff Writer Jonelle Bobak can be reached at [email protected] or 828-432-8907.
LMS Robotics team wins at 2nd Annual Burke County Middle School Robotics Challenge
May 2, 2017
May 2, 2017
Liberty Knights Win Big in Boone
February 17, 2017
Liberty Knights Win Big in Boone
On Friday, February 17th, Liberty Middle School’s TSA (Technology Student Association) chapter traveled and competed at the Western Region North Carolina TSA Conference in Boone. This is an annual event held at Appalachian State University with as many as 650 students in both middle school and high school competing this year.
The Technology Student Association enhances personal development, leadership, and career opportunities in STEM, whereby members apply and integrate these concepts through intracurricular activities, competitions, and related programs.
25 students from Liberty Middle School travelled and competed at Appalachian State University for the 2017 Western Region North Carolina TSA Conference. Students competed in eight different events including Catapult, Dragster, Flight Endurance, Junior Solar Sprint, Problem Solving, Structural Engineering, Video Game Design, and VEX Robotics.
Students have been working on competition entries since early November when the events’ criteria was released. Hard work and dedication paid off when the awards ceremony began and results were announced. Liberty Middle School won big when Skylar Georges and Anthony Hernandez brought home gold in Problem Solving. Silver was also brought home by Owen Streppa and Cole Whisnant in Structural Engineering; Vance Jones, Hannah Fleming, and Tushar Joshi in Video Game Design; Zeke Reep, Rico Johnston, Sully Styles, Joey Seevers, Trenton Rose, Landyn Hartman, Garren Bryant, Marissa Lor, Kierra Hawkins, and Colely Welch in the VEX Robotics competition. The results were a reward for months of hard work, as TSA Advisor Clay Nelson states, “I didn’t expect to bring any medals or awards back to Burke County, but I was really hoping that we would, and we did.”.
For some, hard work pays off with awards, and for others hard work leads to learning experiences. Every student that competed in this years competition worked hard for many hours after school on their own time trying to make the best projects to compete with. Each and every student represented themselves, Liberty Middle School and Burke County well. As Burke County’s first TSA Chapter, we hope that we continue to grow and other schools in Burke county expand their STEM programs by beginning their own chapters.
Students were able to travel and compete in this competition due to the support of community businesses and members. A special thanks to Brown Mountain Bottleworks, Fonta Flora Brewery, Food Matters Market and Cafe, Kierra Hawkins, and everyone who made this trip possible, including Principal Mike Holden and Liberty Middle School staff.
For more information about Liberty Knights TSA, please visit www.libertyknightstsa.weebly.com.
February 17, 2017
Liberty Knights Win Big in Boone
On Friday, February 17th, Liberty Middle School’s TSA (Technology Student Association) chapter traveled and competed at the Western Region North Carolina TSA Conference in Boone. This is an annual event held at Appalachian State University with as many as 650 students in both middle school and high school competing this year.
The Technology Student Association enhances personal development, leadership, and career opportunities in STEM, whereby members apply and integrate these concepts through intracurricular activities, competitions, and related programs.
25 students from Liberty Middle School travelled and competed at Appalachian State University for the 2017 Western Region North Carolina TSA Conference. Students competed in eight different events including Catapult, Dragster, Flight Endurance, Junior Solar Sprint, Problem Solving, Structural Engineering, Video Game Design, and VEX Robotics.
Students have been working on competition entries since early November when the events’ criteria was released. Hard work and dedication paid off when the awards ceremony began and results were announced. Liberty Middle School won big when Skylar Georges and Anthony Hernandez brought home gold in Problem Solving. Silver was also brought home by Owen Streppa and Cole Whisnant in Structural Engineering; Vance Jones, Hannah Fleming, and Tushar Joshi in Video Game Design; Zeke Reep, Rico Johnston, Sully Styles, Joey Seevers, Trenton Rose, Landyn Hartman, Garren Bryant, Marissa Lor, Kierra Hawkins, and Colely Welch in the VEX Robotics competition. The results were a reward for months of hard work, as TSA Advisor Clay Nelson states, “I didn’t expect to bring any medals or awards back to Burke County, but I was really hoping that we would, and we did.”.
For some, hard work pays off with awards, and for others hard work leads to learning experiences. Every student that competed in this years competition worked hard for many hours after school on their own time trying to make the best projects to compete with. Each and every student represented themselves, Liberty Middle School and Burke County well. As Burke County’s first TSA Chapter, we hope that we continue to grow and other schools in Burke county expand their STEM programs by beginning their own chapters.
Students were able to travel and compete in this competition due to the support of community businesses and members. A special thanks to Brown Mountain Bottleworks, Fonta Flora Brewery, Food Matters Market and Cafe, Kierra Hawkins, and everyone who made this trip possible, including Principal Mike Holden and Liberty Middle School staff.
For more information about Liberty Knights TSA, please visit www.libertyknightstsa.weebly.com.
LMS TSA holds first election
January 23, 2017
On January 3, 2017, the Liberty Knights TSA held elections for leadership roles. Those voted into those roles are as follows: Officers Owen Streppa and Joey Seevers, Secretary Marissa Lor, Vice President Landyn Hartman, and President Rico Johnston. Students that have been elected to these roles have agreed to come to a majority of meetings and serve as individuals that will pick up slack where need be and delegate roles in order to keep projects and club responsibilities moving forward.
In order to be voted into these roles, 2/3 of active members needed to be present at the meeting, the students must have had a nomination from an active member aside from themselves and a second from an active member who was not the one being nominated. Once the nomination round came to an end, the nominees exited the room while members in attendance discussed briefly why they made the nomination and support that candidate. A vote by show of hands was taken and the winner was revealed when the nominees entered back into the room. Students could refuse their nomination.
Congratulations to members that were nominated for leadership roles.
On January 3, 2017, the Liberty Knights TSA held elections for leadership roles. Those voted into those roles are as follows: Officers Owen Streppa and Joey Seevers, Secretary Marissa Lor, Vice President Landyn Hartman, and President Rico Johnston. Students that have been elected to these roles have agreed to come to a majority of meetings and serve as individuals that will pick up slack where need be and delegate roles in order to keep projects and club responsibilities moving forward.
In order to be voted into these roles, 2/3 of active members needed to be present at the meeting, the students must have had a nomination from an active member aside from themselves and a second from an active member who was not the one being nominated. Once the nomination round came to an end, the nominees exited the room while members in attendance discussed briefly why they made the nomination and support that candidate. A vote by show of hands was taken and the winner was revealed when the nominees entered back into the room. Students could refuse their nomination.
Congratulations to members that were nominated for leadership roles.
Liberty Knights TSA: The first of its kind in Burke County
January 14, 2017
Liberty Middle School has a new club which combines both the advancement of education in automation and robotics through VEX robotics competitions and the advancement of critical thinking skills through design and engineering. The Technology Student Association(TSA) is the very first of it's kind in Burke County. We hope to lead the charge to re-industrialize and bring technological job opportunities back to Burke County. Burke has been steadily losing industry with the latest being Caterpillar. Reasons for industry closing and/or moving to other places is debatable, but we strive to achieve to take one argument out of the debate. TSA strives to prepare students in Burke County by giving them the tools needed to be competitive and competent in interviews and in the workplace.
TSA is a state and nationally recognized club that fosters the teaching of STEM by hosting regional, statewide and national competitions where students present projects created during the school year including micro controller, flight, VEX robots, catapult, game design and structural engineering. Students can also compete while at the competition, being presented with a challenge for the Problem Solving competition, preparing a speech to present to judges on site, or participating in a quiz bowl about modern technology and physics. Students also learn a variety of skills involving teamwork and leadership by utilizing activities and trips offered by TSA.
The LMS Knights TSA will be travelling to Appalachian State University for the NC TSA Western Regional Competition February 17, 2017. Results and awards may be found on this website following the event.
It is our sincere hope not to be the only TSA group to represent Burke County, but by being the first, we hope to inspire and motivate others to join, participate and grow through these avenues.
Clay Nelson
LMS TSA Advisor
TSA is a state and nationally recognized club that fosters the teaching of STEM by hosting regional, statewide and national competitions where students present projects created during the school year including micro controller, flight, VEX robots, catapult, game design and structural engineering. Students can also compete while at the competition, being presented with a challenge for the Problem Solving competition, preparing a speech to present to judges on site, or participating in a quiz bowl about modern technology and physics. Students also learn a variety of skills involving teamwork and leadership by utilizing activities and trips offered by TSA.
The LMS Knights TSA will be travelling to Appalachian State University for the NC TSA Western Regional Competition February 17, 2017. Results and awards may be found on this website following the event.
It is our sincere hope not to be the only TSA group to represent Burke County, but by being the first, we hope to inspire and motivate others to join, participate and grow through these avenues.
Clay Nelson
LMS TSA Advisor
Liberty Middle School
529 Enola Road Morganton, NC 28655 (828) 437-1330 |