The 2020 Virginia TSA Leadership Academy took place November 21-22, 2020 virtually. All students in Virginia TSA were welcome to attend this year, and it was one of the highest attended Leadership Academy’s ever for Virginia TSA. Not only was it one of the highest attended, it had the most schools that have ever particpated in a Virginia TSA Leadership Academy.

Virginia TSA is proud to announce that it has a new partnership for the 2020-2021 school year.  The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) is partnering with Virginia TSA to help STEM students across the state have more opportunities at the middle and high school level.  This partnership will allow students and teachers to have more access to Civil Engineers, Mechanical Engineers and other VDOT employees across the state to enhance their learning environments and give them feedback on their competitive events.  Virginia TSA will also have even more qualified judges at its competitive events at the regional and state level due to this partnership.  This partnership is a win-win for the students involved in Virginia TSA.

Since we were unable to have Technosphere 2020 due to COVID-19, the 2019-2020 Virginia TSA State Officer Team did a farewell video.  Here is the 2019-2020 Virginia TSA State Officer Team farewell video.

The Virginia TSA 2019 Leadership Academy was held at Brethren Woods Camp and Retreat Center in Keezletown in November.  It was a great weekend for all the Virginia TSA members who attended.  There were leadership sessions provided by the Virginia TSA State Officer team throughout the weekend which included some competitions that culminated with prizes for the winning leadership teams.  Teams were chosen from members of all the schools that were in attendance from the state.  This allowed for a lot of communication from students across the state.  The student members got to work with students from their own school as well as others from schools across the state in the leadership activities. After the opening session on Friday night, all members went outside to a campfire where they made smores.  The members who attended also were involved in team bonding outside activities during the day on Saturday that included a climbing wall, archery and a nature trail to name a few.  All students got a lot out of the weekend and a had a great time in the process.  Virginia TSA members, if you did not attend leadership academy this year, you definitely want to be a part next year.  It is an experience that you will not forget.