It’s April 8, 2025. Anxiety fills the competition room of the University of Central Missouri. Hazelwood West’s team of TSA members look around, crossing their fingers and bracing for the announcement. Praying for a top three spot in the Photography technology category of the competition. Then, Junior Aleyah Brown’s heart drops. Because of her hard work, she just won second place at the state level!
The Technology Student Association (TSA) is an organization in which students can compete and work with S.T.E.M. based activities. In the Hazelwood West chapter, students pick three competition categories to work on from September until April, when the state competition takes place. Students take months thinking, planning and making their final product for each category. For Missouri high school students, the 2025 competition was held at the University of Central Missouri with hundreds of students from school districts across Missouri attending. Meaning that Brown’s effort helped her to prevail against hundreds of students also participating in her category.
“There can be a lot of work that you have to do in your free time to prepare for it. I did photographic technology, which required me to take five photos, and write a portfolio with lots of paragraphs and an essay which I had to do before I could go to state.” Brown said. “It’s really on our club members to represent our school, and I think a lot of being in this club is being mature, learning a lot of time management and being willing to put in a lot of work.”
Going to the state competition allowed Brown to experience staying at a university campus, and to creatively explore the S.T.E.M field. Because she won second place at state, Brown qualified for the 2025 TSA nationals in Nashville, Tennessee. Making it to the top level of the competition was an amazing opportunity, as the national competition houses thousands of students from across the country, as well as university spokesmen, company representatives and the executive leaders of TSA.
“Speaking from personal experience, being on an actual college campus gave me an idea of what it’s like to be in college and gave me a better view of the life I wanted to pursue after high school. Being at UCM may give other kids more motivation to pursue a higher education or even an idea of what kind of school they would want to go to.” Brown said. “And for all of the people who want to go to university or College, I know that being in an extracurricular activity like TSA looks really good on your college application.”
Clubs such as TSA put schools like Hazelwood West on the map; not only in Missouri, but all over the country. Showcasing the smarts and hard work of students and teachers benefits A school as a whole. It gives academic opportunities to driven students, like Brown, and shines a positive light on Hazelwood West. However, many students are unaware that opportunities like this are available at their fingertips. And it is important that schools promote such advantageous extracurriculars.
“I believe that the majority of people who are in TSA are in here because somebody else told them, or they heard about it somewhere. I really don’t think a lot of people would be in this club if it wasn’t advertised to the public.” Brown said. “To improve enrollment in my opinion, I believe that club members should really be more adamant on advertising the club to the student body and explaining what the club really is about.”
In the past Hazelwood West promoted this club on the morning announcements, or relied on word of mouth from current members. To raise awareness of this club, expanding promotion could help introduce the club to additional students. Having a student from their school win second place at the state level was an incredible feat, which can be introduced to a larger percentage of the student body by promoting the club in additional ways. Like social media, newsletters, or hosting tables for a student activity open house.
“A better way that our school could advertise this club is to have a social media account, which I am working on. I know a vast majority of our school has social media like Instagram, so I think that’ll be a really easy way to reach the parts of our school who haven’t heard about TSA or aren’t really convinced to join it.” Brown said.
This club has been incredibly fun and beneficial to Brown, as she is still an active member of TSA, and is entering her third consecutive year in the club. She also holds an officer position as Sergeant-at-Arms in the club, setting her eyes on placing top three at the state competition and returning to nationals for the 2026 school year.