Spotlight on Education: TSA Elementary Program Closes Out Year with Water Tower Competition

BRADENTON – The local chapter of the American Water Works Association and Manatee County Technology Student Association elementary school program held their 3rd annual water tower competition on May 10 at Freedom Elementary. Thirty-three water towers were entered into the competition by 5th grade students throughout Manatee County's public school system.

Team Pica People from Rowlett

Team Vipers from McNeal

The contest challenges students to engineer working models based on strict criteria of scale. Despite the rigid guidelines, students demonstrated remarkable creativity, crafting models based on everything from video game characters to animals and nature scenes.

Categories tested were: structural efficiency, hydraulic efficiency, design ingenuity and cost efficiency. The elementary schools which participated included: Freedom, McNeal, Braden River, Sea Breeze, Rowlett and Daughtrey. 

First place in the overall category was: Team Pica People from Rowlett; first place in creativity was Team Vipers from McNeal.

The TSA students in these elementary programs have an opportunity to continue in the program in their middle school programs here in Manatee County, which has consistently had one of the best TSA programs of any school district in the nation.

TSA's mission is to foster personal growth, leadership and opportunities in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM); members apply and integrate these concepts through co-curricular activities, competitions and related programs. The organization's motto is "Learning To Live In a Technical World."