On March 19, the Clay County Middle School and Clay County High School TSA teams traveled to Cedar Lakes in Ripley for the WV State Competition. Led by their Advisor Jessica Ramsey, 46 students made the trip, 28 from middle school and 18 from high school. This year’s conference theme was Tune in to Technology.
TSA is the Technology Student Association. It is a student organization where students work and learn about STEM, or the areas of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. The competitions are all strategy, problem solving or research based. Each student worked many hours perfecting projects. Their hard work and dedication paid off.
Clay County Middle captured 11 first place, 11 second place, and five third place victories. CCMS was named Outstanding Middle School Chapter in the state of West Virginia. The award is determined by the total number of awards taken away from the conference. The middle school was also the winner of the Chapter Challenge wherein they competed in various activities put together by state officers. Clay County High School captured four first place, eight second place, and eight third place finishes. CCHS placed second overall. In total, 23 students earned the honor to compete at the national TSA competition in Nashville, Tennessee from Jun. 27 to Jul. 1, 2025. State winners were as follows:
Clay County Middle School State Winners
1st Place Winners
Biotechnology
Marissa Atha, McKinley Mahan and Kinley Ramsey
Career Prep
Gunner Dobbins
Challenging Tech Issues
Gunner Dobbins and Hannah Gandee
Community Service Video
Roxy Schoolcraft and Bailey Frame
Construction Challenge
Marissa Atha, Bailey Frame and Roxy Schoolcraft
Inventions and Innovations
Bailey Frame, McKinley Mahan and Roxy Schoolcraft
Mass Production
Marissa Atha, Layla Stewart and Addy Jones
Mechanical Engineering
Autumn Rapp and John Paxton
Prepared Speech
Gunner Dobbins
Problem Solving
Bailey Frame and Canaan Payton
Tech Design
Marissa Atha and Roxy Schoolcraft
2nd Place Winners
Career Prep
Hannah Gandee
Challenging Tech Issues
Cole Boggs and Trenton Parker
Community Service Video
Gunner Dobbins and Canaan Payton
Construction Challenge
Autum Rapp and John Paxton
Inventions and Innovations
Cade Hamrick, Luke West and Jacob Vance
Mechanical Engineering
Alex Holcomb and Madison Holcomb
Medical Technology
Layla Stewart and Kinley Ramsey
Prepared Speech
Hannah Gandee
System Control
Gunner Dobbins, Canaan Payton and Jacob Vance
Water Bottle Rockets
Cole Boggs and Trenton Parker
Tech Bowl
Alex Holcomb, Madison Holcomb and William Samuels
3rd Place Winners
Children’s Stories
Alex Holcomb and Madison Holcomb
Forensics
Mason George and Trenton Parker
Leadership Strategies
Cade Hamrick, John Paxton and Autumn Rapp
Med Tech
Carson Brown and Sadie Cliver
Water Bottle Rockets
Cruz Cottrell and Mason George
Clay County High School State Winners
1st Place Winners
Extemporaneous Speech
Parker Taylor
Geospatial Technology
Jaxon Brown, Alivia Gilliland and Morgan Payton
STEM Mass Media
Ariel Dobbins and Sawyer Dobbins
Webmaster
Keaira Asbury, Avery Brouillard, and Presley Shamblin
2nd Place Winners
Animatronics
Brooke Cliver, Jackson Cliver and Abigail Grandon
Audio Podcasting
Sawyer Dobbins and Parker Taylor
Board Game Design
Ariel Dobbins and Lillian Starcher
Chapter Team
Cheyanne Adkins, Jaxon Brown, Lexi Diaz, Juliann Gallaher, Alivia Gilliland and Morgan Payton
Debating Technological Issues
Sawyer Dobbins and Parker Taylor
Digital Video Production
Ariel Dobbins, Sawyer Dobbins and Lillian Starcher
Forensics
Keaira Asbury and Avery Brouillard
Prepared Presentation
Parker Taylor
3rd Place Winners
Children’s Stories
Ariel Dobbins and Lillian Starcher
Fashion Design
Brooke Cliver and Abigail Grandon
Forensics
Presley Shamblin and Lillian Starcher
Future Tech Teacher
Juliann Gallaher
Prepared Presentation
Sawyer Dobbins
Promotional Design
Ariel Dobbins
STEM Mass Media
Brooke Cliver and Abigail Grandon
Water Bottle Rockets
Jackson Cliver and Eli Dorsey
At Cedar Lakes, state officers for the 2025-2026 school year were also elected: Ariel Dobbins will serve as State President and Juliann Gallaher will be State Sergeant-at-Arms. Additionally, two of three scholarships awarded went to CCHS students. Avery Brouillard won the Fred Chavanak Leadership Scholarship for her exemplary leadership in TSA. Sawyer Dobbins won the Most Outstanding Member Scholarship for excellence in his TSA events throughout his high school career.
Five Clay High students were also honored with awards in the TSA Achievement Program Pathways to Excellence. It encourages TSA members to engage in the areas/categories of service, leadership, STEM immersion, and personal/professional development. Students participate in activities in these areas andare able toearn sequentially a bronze, silver, and gold award. Impressively, Keaira Asbury, Avery Brouillard, Jaxon Brown, Alivia Gilliland, and Lillian Starcher each earned all three – bronze, silver and gold achievement awards.
Ms. Ramsey isvery proud of these students for not only being successful in competition, but for their success in their behavior too. They are carrying on a strong tradition set by TSA students over the past decade. Ms. Ramseywould also like to thank Mrs. Lindsay Schoolcraft, Ms. Elizabeth Gallaher, Mr. Alex Keiffer, and Mrs. Luella Dancyfor their time and hard work helping students with projects or serving aschaperones along with the parents, grandparents, and family members who help make sure the students’ projects are complete.
They say it takes a village to raise a child, and the same can be said about TSA. It takes a community to bring success and CCMS and CCHS students are fortunate to have that community support. This success would also not be possible without the support of the administrationsat Clay County Middle School, Clay County High School, the Clay County Schools Administrative Staff and the Clay County Board of Education. We thank you! The School Board will recognize the students for their achievements at the next Board Meeting to be held on May 6, 2025.
