Oklahoma Technology Student Association members won eight national championships, eight second place and 10 third place finishes and 21 Gold Achievement Awards at the National TSA Conference in Washington, D.C., and National Harbor, Maryland.
Oklahoma was recognized as one of only five states to achieve its Forward to Fifty membership goal for the 2025-26 school year, helping National TSA move closer to its goal of 3,000 chapters or 500,000 members by the CareerTech student organization’s 50th anniversary in 2028.
Oklahoma TSA took 309 students and 58 advisers, along with additional parents and guests, to the conference.
Receiving Gold Achievement Awards were Stuthi Baliga, Owen Jackson and Jayden Lu, Edmond Heartland Middle School; Akshaj “Aks” Dalavayi, Blake Jackson and Vincent Weng, Edmond Santa Fe High School; Paxton Gray, Southridge Junior High School, Moore; Loralie Hanes, Life Ready Center, Lawton; Jase Hawthorne and Adam Murphy, Madill Middle School; Aaron Huang and Bipul Lamichhane, Jenks Middle School; Collin King and Marenn Wood Tulsa Tech – Jenks High School; Braxton Kirby, Vanguard Academy, Broken Arrow; Madeline Kiser and Ruby Miller, Atoka High School; William Lin, Stillwater High School; Robert Mcintire, Dunbar Intermediate School, Okmulgee; Talon Rice, Hominy High School; and Dominic Trupiano, Francis Tuttle Technology Center-Portland.
Students competed in two levels: middle school and high school.
Placing first were Alex Middle School, in both audio podcasting (team one) and chapter team; Oneta Ridge Middle School, Broken Arrow, in both community service video and mass production; Whittier Middle School, Norman, construction challenge; Luke Eubanks, Stilwell Middle School, flight; Jenks Middle School, leadership strategies; and Ryder Drennon, Alex Middle School, prepared speech.
Placing second were Alex Middle School, team three, audio podcasting; Edmond North High School, board game design; Jenks Middle School, coding; Jenks High School, debating technological issues; Cooper King, Vian Middle School, prepared speech; Sameha Ghost, Whittier Middle School, Norman, promotional marketing; Edmond Heartland Middle School, tech bowl; and Edmond Santa Fe High School, tech bowl.
Third place finishes went to Ethan Anderson, Fort Gibson Middle School, CAD foundations; Byng Junior High, children’s stories; Asher Stone, Purcell Junior High, dragster; Edmond North High School, fashion design and technology; Alex Middle School, forensic technology, mass production and tech bowl; Avery McCauley, Alex Middle School, promotional marketing; Central Middle School, Bartlesville, STEM animation; and Bartlesville High School, virtual reality simulation.
The Oklahoma contingent also had 66 top 10 finalists, along with four 2025-26 State Superlative Membership awards: largest middle school chapter, Jenks Middle School, and state with the most middle school chapters, the most middle school members and the most chapters overall.
Chris Buster, Carnegie Public Schools, was the high school Chapter Adviser of the Year, and Holly Hannon, Jenks Middle School, was the middle school Chapter Adviser of the Year. Tami Redus, Oklahoma TSA adviser with Oklahoma CareerTech, was recognized for more than five years of service to TSA.
Also during the conference, the Oklahoma state officer team led a leadership workshop, “Dream Big, Lead Bigger.”
TSA, one of seven co-curricular CareerTech student organizations, is affiliated with CareerTech programs. It is affiliated with science, technology, engineering and math education. The other six are Family, Career and Community Leaders of America (family and consumer sciences education), FFA (agricultural education), DECA (marketing education), SkillsUSA (trade and industrial education), Business Professionals of America (business and information technology education) and HOSA (health careers education).
Oklahoma CareerTech: Oklahoma’s Workforce Leader
The Oklahoma Department of Career and Technology Education provides leadership and resources and assures standards of excellence for a comprehensive statewide system of career and technology education. The system offers programs and services in 29 technology center districts operating on 63 campuses, 394 PK-12 school districts, 20 skills centers campuses that include three juvenile facilities and 49 adult education and family literacy providers.
The agency is governed by the State Board of Career and Technology Education and works closely with the State Department of Education and the State Regents for Higher Education to provide a seamless educational system for all Oklahomans.
