Recently, students from Trinity Christian Academy’s (TCA) Tech Stop team, discussed the extensive curriculum of the TCA Honors Tech Intern class, as well as how the Tech Stop program helps students and teachers with their devices in the classroom at the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) in San Antonio.

TCA’s Tech Stop program allows students to learn how to troubleshoot common technology issues and gain interpersonal and customer service skills. Students who work at the Tech Stop act as a resource to fix common technical problems with school-issued tablets throughout the year. If a student at TCA is having a problem with their tablet, they will take it to the Tech Stop, where upper school technology students will assess the problem, communicate the solution with their “customer” and resolve the issue.

The ISTE Conference & Expo is home to one of the largest and most interactive “ed tech” expos in the world. More than 15,000 educators attend this conference each year to learn about educator-tested strategies and resources for transforming learning and teaching.

The team who presented at the conference included Lisa Wong TCA director of technology, Charla Thomas TCA educational technology specialist, Tricia Westover TCA upper school tech stop support and students Alex Clemovitz, Laura Pomberg, Cailin Redden and Mary Ashley Samuelson.

Recently, three students at Trinity Christian Academy (TCA), were recognized for their extraordinary talent at the Schmidt & Jones Awards Gala for performances in Cinderella. Melinda White received Outstanding Actress in a Supporting Role, Macrae Smith received Outstanding Actor in a Minor Role and Caroline Pino received Outstanding Actress in a Minor Role.

Students were judged by a panel of theater professionals and educators. The judges provided nominations and voted for winners in various performance and design categories as the students competed against the productions from high schools in Dallas, Tarrant and Collin counties. Sponsored by Dallas County's only locally produced professional musical theater company, Lyric Stage, the gala honors the students' hard work by providing a Tony Award-like ceremony.

More than 2,000 Texas students entered the Letters About Literature Contest to share their personal connection to literature.

Avery Gann, a sophomore at Trinity Christian Academy (TCA), recently won third place in the Library of Congress’ Letters about Literature Competition. Encouraged by her history teacher, Gann’s letter discussed the challenges of living with Arthrogryposis Multiplex Congenita (congenital joint contractures) and scoliosis and how J.K. Rowling’s “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” helped her cope with those challenges.

In her letter, Gann credits J.K. Rowling with giving her the courage to face her fears and embrace her differences, “This book shaped me into the person that I am. I am strong, confident, and quirky in my own special way. I have embraced my differences and used them to the benefit of myself and the people around me. There is a reason God called me to live this life. Just because I haven't discovered it yet doesn't mean that I should ever be ashamed.”

Judges scored the letters based on organization, idea development, language and emotional connection. The Letters About Literature Contest gives 4th-12th graders a chance to write to an author (living or deceased) about how his or her book has affected their lives. Nationally, close to 40,000 students wrote letters and since 1997 more than a million students have participated.

The Letters About Literature Contest is given by the Library of Congress through the Dollar General Literacy Foundation, with additional support from gifts to the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress, which promotes the contest through its affiliate Centers for the Book, state libraries and other organizations.

To read Gann’s full letter to J.K. Rowling, click here. 

Luke Penton, a seventh-grader at Trinity Christian Academy (TCA), will compete in the NW National Spelling Bee on May 6 in Washington, D.C. He recently placed third in the Regional Spelling Bee and is one of the top five spellers, qualifying him to advance to nationals.

The annual spelling bee is hosted by the Association of Christian Schools International (ACSI) and aims to help build vocabulary and proper communication skills.

It’s National Engineers Week and at Trinity Christian Academy (TCA), STEM Club students are putting their engineering skills to the test. Recently, the more than 52 lower school STEM Club students designed their own “marble runs” to learn how physics is used to design roller coasters. With guidance from 15 students from the upper school STEM Club, they came up with unique designs and learned how different angles affect the marble’s speed.

Third and fourth grade students in the lower school STEM Club are learning about the science classes they will take in high school including biology, chemistry and physics. The most recent lesson focused on physics, which is the study of matter, motion and its behavior through time and space.

National Engineers Week is dedicated to ensuring a diverse and well-educated future engineering workforce by increasing understanding of and interest in engineering and technology careers.