Cascade High School on the National Stage: Mia Dreis Wins TSA Nationals

Mia Dreis poses with her first-place trophy at the 2024 Technology Student Association National Conference in Orlando, FL. Photo Credit: CHS TSA. 

Last summer, Cascade High School student Mia Dreis (12) took first place at the Technology Student Association (TSA) National Championship.  

“When they called my name, I was completely shocked. Not for a second had I thought that winning was going to be the reality of it. I was really proud and just blown away,”

 said Dreis when asked about how she felt as she stood on the awards ceremony stage.  

TSA, national non-profit career and technical student organization, is a program available to students in middle and high school who are enrolled in technology and engineering education classes. Students who join TSA select a category in which they will compete, and work towards a final product throughout the school year. The category options range from Robotics and Software Development to Board Game Design and Architectural Design.  

Dreis won the Children’s Story category, in which she has competed three times during the years that she has been an active member of TSA. Her experience has taught her the importance of dedication to high quality artwork and an in-depth storyline. Dreis also explained the need to be humble and realistic when entering TSA competitions, as over 300,000 students participate in TSA each year, and competition is steep. For instance, the Children’s Story category only allows for the top three students from the state competition to advance to the national championships. 

“I have learned that even though you think something that you've made or done deserves a certain level of recognition, it might not actually be true, and you really need to delve deeply into your process and take down your ego a little bit to succeed,” said Dreis. 

The year’s prompt for the Children’s Story was to create an adventure story with a focus on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics that included a clue on each page, which could be connected at the end. Dreis chose to have detachable puzzle pieces on every page, and that could be put together at the end of the book.  

Dreis spoke about how the year felt different from those in the past.  

“I knew that it was one of my last chances, as it would be one of my last years participating in TSA, so I needed to try really hard, and I was excited to put forth the effort,” she said. “I am glad that I participated in TSA because it's made me realize that there are a lot of different types of career path possibilities in STEM fields, and it's not just coding and robotics. It's a lot of other things, and people with all different types of skills can succeed at TSA, and it's just an amazing way to get connected with potential career paths.”