Schools and Education Spotlight on Education: Manatee School District Dominates State TSA Championships

BRADENTON – Students and schools from the Manatee County School District dominated the 37th Annual Florida Technology Student Association (TSA) State Competition which concluded last Saturday night in Orlando. It was the 10th-straight year the Manatee District captured more trophies and earned more Top-10 finishes than any other school district in Florida.

Even more impressive, district students brought home over 650 Top-10 finishes, which made the Manatee District the only district in the state to have students place in the Top 10 in every competitive event.

Students from Manatee County entered all 63 competitive events which equated to a possible 189 event trophies for placing first, second or third. Manatee County students brought home 44 first-place trophies, 40 second-place trophies and 31 third-place trophies: for a record of 115 event trophies, easily out distancing all other school districts in Florida.

This year’s state TSA Competition consisted of competitive events representing a wide range of technology and engineering skills from animatronics to video game design.

Students and teachers from 13 Manatee County schools participated, including: Bayshore High, Braden River High, Lakewood Ranch High, Manatee High, Southeast High, Braden River Middle, Buffalo Creek Middle, Haile Middle, Harllee Middle, Johnson Middle, Lee Middle, Nolan Middle, and Sugg Middle.

State competition highlights included:

Manatee District Schools swept the top three-places in the Middle School Chapter Team event with Nolan taking 1st, Haile taking 2nd and Braden River taking 3rd. Those 3 schools also swept the Construction Challenge event, taking 1st, 2nd and 3rd again.

Manatee District Middle and High Schools also swept the top-three places in the highly competitive C02 Dragster Design event, taking the 1st, 2nd and 3rd places at both levels.

Manatee District Schools finished stronger in the Top-10 rankings than any other district in Engineering Design, Inventions and Innovations, Energy Sources, Environmental Focus, Flight and Flight Endurance, Technical Design and Transportation Modeling.

“While winning is not the only thing, these results illustrate that our students are learning the necessary skills and abilities to be competitive in a global society in many areas of Career and Technical Education,” said Doug Wagner, the Manatee District’s Director of Adult, Career and Technical Education. “We are proud of all the students who enroll in our programs, their teachers, and schools.”