Members of the Appling County Middle School (ACMS) Technology Student Association (TSA) Chapter attended the Fall Leadership/Leadercon Conference November 11-13th at Jekyll Island. During the conference, the chapter received a White Star Award for mentoring the new TSA chapter of Pierce County Middle School and a ‘Spirit Award” for setting up the decorations at the TSA Conference Dance. ACMS TSA members also competed in many individual and team events during the conference.
Individual and team conference events included the Statesman Award Assessment, the Armada Boat Challenge, and the Lego Robotics Challenge. Mary Evelyn Deal, Gene Starr, and Ethan Twiggs competed in the Statesman Award Assessment. Adam Jones, Mary Evelyn Deal, and Gene Starr were the ACMS Armada Boat Designers. The ACMS TSA armada boat was captained by Gene Starr and Rylan Campbell. While the boat did not finish in the top 10, this is the second year in a row that boat completed the challenge and did not sink.
The ACMS TSA Lego Teams did well at Leadercon, competing against 11 other chapters in the Animal Allies Challenge. Each team chose an animal to research as part of the challenge and this animal served as the team name. The Techno Hogs, focusing on hedgehogs, consisted of Ethan Twiggs, Gene Starr, and Rylan Campbell. This team achieved the following results from competition:
- Overall Tournament, Ranked 5th Place Out of 12
- Research Project, Ranked 6th
- Core Values Competition, Ranked 6th
- Robot Design Competition, Ranked 6th
- Robot Table Competition, Ranked 3rd with the Highest Score of 42 points
The Techno Turtles team, focusing on sea turtles, consisted of Madaline Price, Jamin Miles, and Hannah Cortes. This team achieved the following results from competition:
- Overall Tournament, Ranked of 2nd Place Out of 12
- Research Project, Ranked 5th
- Core Values Competition, Ranked 1st place Earning a Tournament Trophy
- Robot Design Competition, Ranked 3rd
- Robot Table Competition, Ranked 7th with the Highest Points Earned of 24 points.
The Techno Turtles took 2nd place overall at the First Lego League Tournament and earned a spot to advance to the Super Regional Tournament being held in Warner Robins on January 21st.
