Talk of East Texas

By Katia Gutierrez

July 2, 2009 11:04 PM | Link to this

So we got 10th place in the whole nation that’s pretty amazing!!!! This was thanks to all of our hard work and effort, but I don’t think it would’ve been possible if we didn’t have such a great leader like Melissa Mosley. I don’t think anyone said it but i just have to; Chapter team had to be made up of six officers but after some complications we lost three officers. Then our team was made up of three passed experienced officers and three new, inexperienced, never seen parliamentary procedures officers. Melissa Mosley had to teach as much parliamentary procedure to this three new officers; which were Luis Vasquez, Micheal Ibeh, and the most resent one, Roshan Patel. Roshan, just a month before competition, joined Chapter team. He did such an unbelievable job. Melissa proved to be an extraordinary teacher since Micheal Ibeh received sixth place in parliamentary procedure written exam. I am thankful for having her as our chapter team president and dear friend. Finaly I just want to say that I am proud of everyone because we worked like a team and did our best.

By Michael Ibeh

July 2, 2009 10:21 PM | Link to this

Today was the awards ceremony for all of the competetive events. I got 6th place in the Chapter Team Written Test and our chapter got 10th place for the Chapter Team Oral. I was so glad that we made it to the finals. Coming to Denver to compete at Nationals has been an experience that I will never forget. I can’t wait to go to Nationals next year, in Baltimore, Maryland.

By Roshan

July 2, 2009 10:11 PM | Link to this

So today was the last day of the 2009 TSA National Conference in Denver. Overall, it was a blast. This morning was the award ceremony, and man was it tense. Just hoping that your name or school is called for the finalists. Unfortunateley we did not win any trophies but it was a good experience. Meeting different kinds of people, competeing against more than 4000 other students from around the nation and other countries, and experiencing the fun of Denver, Colorado. This was something that I won’t forget.

By Melissa Mosley

July 2, 2009 12:13 AM | Link to this

Today was the business meeting deciding the National Officers for the upcoming year and any new business concerning the organization and its bylaws. I actually got up to debate in front of the entire assembly in favor of the amendment to the bylaws. The debate was very vigorous and quite fun! Unfortunately, it was very long! This was my seventh time to be a voting delegate for Texas TSA, and it is quite fitting that it would be my last. I enjoyed it alot. Tomorrow is the awards ceremony, and we will get to go on stage as a team for chapter team because we made it in the top ten teams in the nation! I am so proud of my teammates!

By Charles Mosley

July 1, 2009 12:41 AM | Link to this

We have just completed another busy day at the National TSA Contest in Denver. Each morning begins with a General Session, where all of the students and advisors meet. In the first general session we heard the keynote speaker, who was a former TSA student and national TSA officer. During the second general session, we heard the speeches of the national officer candidates.
Each day ends with a delegaton meeting with all of the students attending from Texas. There are about 300 students from Texas at the conference this year. They voted on which candidate they will collectively vote for tomorrow at the officer election and business meeting. They also discussed an amendment that will be made to the TSA Constitution. My students have been very busy competing in their various events. There is only one more event tomorrow; Technology Problem Solving. The conference will end on Thursday, when the awards ceremony is held. All of the students who placed in the top ten in their events will be recognized. The Chapter Team (Parliamentary Procedure event) will be recognized in the top ten, we just don’t know what place. These students really worked hard all year learning and preparing for this event. To learn more about TSA, please check out the web sites: [www.texastsa.org] and [www.tsaweb.org]

By Zaida Salinas

June 30, 2009 7:02 PM | Link to this

This morning I woke up anxious wanting to know if our chapter team had made it in the top ten. I thought about how much effort and dedication all of my fellow members have put into this event throughout this year and how we really deserved it. As I headed to the structural challenge I decide to text Katia hoping she would know the results. She told me that we had made it into the finals. I was relieved and excited, because this would mean we get to compete in the oral competition, which is conducting a business meeting. After the structural engineering event, our chapter team competed. We were nervous, but gained confidence and performed well. We will know the final results on Thursday. I can’t wait!

By Melissa Mosley

June 30, 2009 6:38 PM | Link to this

We started today by going to the general session where we heard the national candidates platform speeches. Tonight, Texas TSA, as a delegation, will pick who it wants to be as the new 2009-2010 National TSA Officer Team. Our votes will be casted as a block, which means all votes are cast together for the same candidate, strengthening the power of the number of votes that our large state receives. Today brought me a little relief. We found out that all of our hard work, the hours and hours and hours and months and months of preparation and dedication to Parliamentary Procedure and Chapter Team paid off: we got into the finals. We, based on our group test scores, made the top ten highschool teams in the nation! I was so excited. I can’t wait for the Awards Ceremony on Thursday, so we will find out our ranking in the top ten!!!

By Luis Vazquez

June 30, 2009 6:24 PM | Link to this

This all seems new to me even though my first national conference was two years ago; new people and a new environment. The atomsphere is welcoming yet competetive. My nerves settled a little today as I found out that our hard work earned us a spot in the finals, but they returned tenfold as we entered the room to conduct a regular parliamentary procedure bussiness meeting. The experience is so riveting and inspiring. Colorado welcomes us with the personalities along the street and the physical attributes along the horizon. I am enjoying National TSA.

By Brian

June 30, 2009 4:20 PM | Link to this

Congratulations to Mr. Mosley and all of the students in Denver! I know you are representing LISD well and we are proud of you. Thank you to the staff, students and parents for sacrificing your time and summer into participating in this event. The hard work does not go unnoticed.

Keep up the great work!

By Katia Gutierrez

June 30, 2009 12:19 AM | Link to this

This is my fourth year at nationals for TSA, and every year is very exciting and unique in a different way. This is my first time coming to Denver and I’m glad I came with this great organization. This club has grown to be my second family to the point where we already know our likes and dislikes. This organization has helped me grow as a person and enhanced my leadership skills. I am anxiously waiting for the results because we put a lot of work and effort to learn the material, so we hope they’re good. Whatever the results are I’m going to still feel VERY PROUD of my fellow team members for all their efforts.

By Brantley Johnson

June 29, 2009 11:35 PM | Link to this

Today was the commencent of competition. Starting the day off with a light walk, we made our way to our first general session, where we got to see the full extent of our competition, as over 5000 students poured in the theatre. Competition was fierce from the get go but with our preperation we were able to hang with the big dogs. Although the results didn’t come out exactly as we wanted we still have more to go. Denver is cool, and competition is hot. This is national TSA.

By Melissa Mosley

June 28, 2009 11:41 PM | Link to this

This is my seventh nationals for TSA, but it could definitely be the best! I have never been to Colorado before. It is so beautiful! The mixer was a lot of fun; we even met some of the students from Germany. It was a great opportunity. Tomorrow we have to take the tests for Parliamentary Procedure and Tech Bowl. I hope we do good!!! It does make me a little sad that this is my last year, but I will be sure to make this the best year yet!

By Michael Ibeh

June 28, 2009 11:22 PM | Link to this

Today we got to see downtown Denver. I don’t think that there could have been a cooler place to have TSA nationals. We’ve been working hard all year to get to this point. Going to nationals is an experience that I will never forget. Competitions will start tomorrow, and I can’t wait. It has been great getting to know people from other states, and even other countries. I’m really looking forward to coming back next year.

By Roshan

June 28, 2009 11:02 PM | Link to this

This is my first year in TSA and it has been awesome. When I got here in Denver, I saw the mountains and just dropped my mouth saying WOW. So far at nationals it has been something new. Denver overall is clean and beautiful. Today they started the competition and some of us had to turn in the events we worked on in june and man was it busy. The hotel is really nice and comfortable. There was a little party/dance and that was pretty fun. Meeting new people from other states and countries was really nice. Overall so far, it has been new and fun.