Polk County Public Schools
Students from 13 Polk schools won awards in competitive events of the 2009- 2010 Technology Student Association (TSA) state and national conferences. TSA offers students opportunities to learn about technology, innovation, design and engineering. Students apply and integrate science, technology, engineering and mathematics concepts through academic activities, competitive events and related programs. Competitive events at the conferences included agriculture and biotechnology, global manufacturing, marine design and medical technology.
A team of students from Lakeland’s Lawton Chiles Middle Academy won ninth place at the national TSA event held in Baltimore. The team was composed of Rayon Harris, Dhaval Jivanji and Shelby Wilt. They competed in the system control technology event.
At the state event held in Orlando, Davenport School of the Arts student Ka-Yen Yau won four awards. Ka-Yen won a first place award in the “Lights, Camera, Action” event and second place awards in the communication, medical technology and technical drawing events.
Two other students won three awards each at the state event.
Amber Anderson of Haines City’s Daniel Jenkins Academy won a first place in the technology talk event, a second in the technology bowl event and a third in the technology problem solving event. Shivi Kumar of Eagle Lake’s Lake Region High won a third place in the debating technological issues event and also won a TSA Distinguished Service Award and a Florida TSA Scholarship.
Six students won at least two awards at the state event. They were: Robyn Cotney (Davenport School of the Arts), Kaleigh Dirck (Lawton Chiles Middle), Tanya Dudney (Davenport School of the Arts), Dhaval Jivanji (Lawton Chiles Middle), Sierra Juncal (Lakeland’s Blake Academy) and Shelby Wilt (Lawton Chiles Middle).
Students winning awards at the state TSA event are listed according to school.
Bartow High: Alexander Kerns;
Bartow International Baccalaureate: Nestor Beltre, Stephen Samples;
Blake Academy (Lakeland): Sierra Juncal;
Boone Middle (Haines City): Eleodoro Bahena, Ryan Bergeron, Christopher Junecko;
Crystal Lake Middle (Lakeland): Rhiannon Cusolito, Adrian Gray , David Nieves, Samuel Van Duyn;
Daniel Jenkins Academy (Haines City): Amber Anderson, Sarah Renuart, Gage Russell, Alejandra Salemi, Ben Straw;
Davenport School Of The Arts: Robyn Cotney, Tanya Dudney, Clarissa Ramirez, Holli Ramsey, Callie Shea, Luke Wilmoth, Aaliyah Wise, Ka-Yen Yau;
Frostproof Senior High: Nichole Potts;
Harrison School For The Arts (Lakeland): Cody Ramsey, Donavin Willis;
Lake Region High (Eagle Lake): Shivi Kumar, Ashley Peguero, Nick Ragusa;
Lawton Chiles Middle Academy (Lakeland): Karen Bui, Alexis Byers, Hayley Dirck, Kaleigh Dirck, Rayon Harris, Dhaval Jivanji, Annika Mulaney, Juhi Patel, Ruchi Patel, Hunter Ponder, Divya Ravinder Shelby Wilt;
Sleepy Hill Middle (Lakeland): Ethan Anderson, David Linville, David Mendez, Samantha Parker;
Tenoroc High (Lakeland): Andrew Wann, Samson Webb.
