Future educators from Smyrna High School were named national champions at the Educators Rising National Conference.

In total, 18 individual or teams from Delaware were recognized with Top 10 honors.  Smyrna High School had 11 individuals or teams place in the Top 10 and was crowned 2023 National Champion.

Delaware Teacher Academy students and advisors from across the state attended the 2023 Educators Rising National Conference in Orlando.  Delaware was represented by students from Appoquinimink School District’s Appoquinimink High School, Brandywine School District’s Concord High School, Cape Henlopen School District’s Cape Henlopen High School, Indian River School District’s Sussex Central High School, Laurel School District’s Laurel High School, New Castle County Vocational Technical School District’s Howard High School of Technology, Red Clay Consolidated School District’s McKean High School, Seaford School District’s Seaford High School, Smyrna School District’s Smyrna High School and Delaware Technical Community College.

Throughout the conference students were able to engage in professional and personal development opportunities, networking and competitive events.  Educators Rising competitions are performance-based competitive events in which aspiring educators demonstrate their knowledge, skills, and leadership in education.

Seaford High School’s Taylor Jenkins was elected as the national vice president of service.  Jenkins is only the third student in Delaware to be elected as a national officer with Educators Rising.

To learn more about the Delaware Educators Rising visit www.delawareedrising.org  or contact Michael Hill-Shaner at michael.hill-shaner@doe.k12.de.us.

Media contact: Alison May, alison.may@doe.k12.de.us, 302-735-4006

Students and advisors from across the State of Delaware joined more than 8,000 national members at the 45^th Annual Technology Student Association (TSA) conference that was hosted in Louisville, Kentucky last week. The First State delegation represented 130 of Delaware’s finest student leaders from Caesar Rodney High School, Cab Calloway School of The Arts, Fred Fifer Middle School, H.B. duPont Middle School, Indian River High School, Magnolia Middle School, MOT Charter High School, Newark Charter School, Newark High School, Odyssey Charter School Postlethwait Middle School and Sussex Central High School.

Students competed in individual and team events such as: Architecture; Podcasting; Biotechnology; Board Game Design; Career Prep; Coding; Cybersecurity; Data Science and Analytics; Video Production; Dragster Design; Extemporaneous Speech; Fashion Design and Technology; Flight Endurance; Foundations of Information Technology; Future Teacher; Manufacturing Prototype; Microcontroller Design; Photographic Technology; Solar Sprint; Software Development; STEM Animation; Structural Engineering; System Control Technology; Technology Problem Solving; VEX Robotics; Video Game Design; Virtual Reality Visualization (VR); and Website Design and more.  Honors for the Delaware delegation include:

Achievement Awards

• Samhitha Vallury of MOT Charter School recognized for service as secretary of Technology Student Association inc.
• Samra Iqbal of Caesar Rodney High School recognized for service as reporter of Technology Student Association inc.
• Roger Seedorf of MOT Charter School recognized as High School Teacher of the Year
• Laura Barnas of Postlethwait Middle recognized as Middle School Teacher of the Year
• Mike Fitzgerald from the Delaware Department of Education recognized as the National State Advisor of the Year

National Top 10 Finalists

• Desen Basara of Caesar Rodney High School earned 1^st place in Essays on Technology
• Shiven Reddy and Youg Patel of Newark Charter High School earned 3^rd place in Technology Problem Solving
• Nathan Hryniewicz of Newark Charter High School earned 5^th place in CAD Engineering
• Arnav Angra of H.B. duPont Middle School earned 7^th place in Foundations of Information Technology
• John Barnas, Zachary Barnas, and Mason Lenoir of Postlethwait Middle School earned 7^th place in Video Game Design
• James Carroll and Audrey Houghton of Newark Charter High School earned 10^th place in Forensic Science
• Ethan Ho, Chase Polk and Noah Veron of Newark Charter High School earned 10^th place in System Control Technology

The Technology Student Association (TSA) is a Career and Technical Student Organization (CTSO) dedicated to students interested in advancing the future of technology, invention, innovation, design, and engineering. Through TSA, members gain the opportunity to participate in STEM focused competitive events, take part in community service work, and become leaders for the organization at the school, state, and national level. TSA incorporates co-curricular experiences to emphasize the importance of knowledge, leadership, skill development, and teamwork. To learn more about the Delaware Technology Student Association visit: www.detsa.org or contact Mike Fitzgerald by phone at (302) 735-4015 or via email at mike.fitzgerald@doe.k12.de.us. A list of all international finalists can be found online at TSA Competitive Event Finalists.

Media contact: Alison May, alison.may@doe.k12.de.us, 302-735-4006

Nearly 700 middle and high school students participated last week at the 45^th annual Delaware Technology Student Association (DETSA) State Leadership Conference that was hosted by the University of Delaware’s College of Engineering. The conference opened each day with a session led by the state officers of Puiyee Kong and Chuiyee Kong (Caesar Rodney High School) and Sanjana Medisetty, Anaum Allimulla, Kate Li and Anusha Devisetty (Newark Charter School) and the national officers of Sami Vallury (MOT Charter School) and Samra Iqbal (Caesar Rodney High School).

At the conference, students earned 341 medals in 49 contests such as: architectural design; biotechnology; coding; cybersecurity; digital video production; dragster design; engineering design; flight endurance; fashion design and technology; forensic technology; geospatial technology; inventions and innovations; mechanical engineering; medical technology; STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) animation; photographic technology; robotics; structural engineering; system control technology; website design; video game design and more. Eligible students qualified for the National Leadership Conference, which will be held June 21-24, 2023 in Louisville, Kentucky.

Delaware Technology Student Association (DETSA) is a career and technical student organization dedicated to students who are interested in pursuing their future in a career in STEM. This year nearly 3,421 members had the opportunity to participate in career focused competitive events, take part in community service, and become leaders of the organization at the school, state, and national level. DETSA incorporates curricular and co-curricular experiences to emphasize the importance of knowledge, leadership, skill development, and teamwork.

Attached find a list of students who have placed. The specific state awards will be announced on the detsa.org website on April 22, 2023, during a virtual awards ceremony. To learn more about DETSA, please contact Mike Fitzgerald by email at mike.fitzgerald@doe.k12.de.us.

Media contact: Alison May, alison.may@doe.k12.de.us, 302-735-4006

Recently the Delaware Restaurant Association and Delaware Restaurant Association Educational Foundation (DRAEF) hosted more than 400 attendees at the Delaware ProStart Student Invitational in Dover. This event provided students with the opportunity to participate in the state’s premier high school competition for restaurant management and culinary arts.

Caesar Rodney School District’s Caesar Rodney High School vied with 14 other schools to win the state culinary title, while Cape Henlopen School District’s Cape Henlopen High School competed with nine other schools to take the state management competition.

Both schools will be competing at the national competition in Washington, D.C., as well as being featured at the annual DRAEF fundraising dinner. More information can be found on the Pro Start website.

Media contact: Alison May, alison.may@doe.k12.de.us, 302-735-4006

Last month the Delaware Family, Career, and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) hosted a middle school state conference that provided students with the opportunity to participate in workshops exploring career technical education opportunities and career technical student organization-aligned competitions.

Twenty-two students from active FCCLA middle chapters medaled during competitive events. Those results are listed below. Workshops were hosted by State President/Student Director Jessica Argueta and Roundtable Life Skills.

For more information on Delaware FCCLA, please contact Michael Hill-Shaner, Delaware FCCLA state director, at Michael.hillshaner@doe.k12.de.us.

Media contact: Alison May, alison.may@doe.k12.de.us, 302-735-4006