The Technology Student Association (TSA), formerly AIASA, is the oldest student organization dedicated exclusively to students enrolled in technology education classes grades K-12. It has a rich history that spans three decades. Three distinct periods may be found in TSA's history. During the period from 1958 to 1978, the American Industrial Arts Student Association (AIASA) was a sponsored activity of the American Industrial Arts Association (AIAA). In 1978, the nonprofit corporation, AIASA, Inc., was formed to oversee AIASA as a separate organization. During the decade that followed, the organization grew in size, strength, structure, and impact on students and secondary school programs. The summer of 1988 closed this third decade as AIASA reached another milestone, a change in the organization's name: the Technology Student Association (TSA).
Milestones
1978 - First Board of Directors of AIASA, Inc. elected in February.
1978 - U.S. Office of Education recognized AIASA as the official vocational student organization for industrial arts students.
1978 - AIASA, Inc. is created, beginning financial independence from AIAA.
1978 - Ronald W. Applegate hired as first Executive Director under AIASA, Inc.
1979 - AIASA holds first national conference separate from AIAA.
1981 - National Standards for Industrial Arts Programs includes 11 specific Standards related to student organization.
1985 - Revised Competitive Events Handbook with 5-Year Planning Matrix published.
1988 - Students vote to change name of AIASA to Technology Student Association (TSA) (June 22) A name change trade mark application was placed on file with the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Its first president was Curtis Sheets of Virginia.
1988 - The national office relocated from 1908 Association Drive to its present home at 1914 Association, in Reston, VA
1989 - The official TSA logo was designed by TSA chapter advisor Steve Price of Georgia. The membership adopted the logo for use at the national, state and local level.
1990 - The TSA logo received a registered trade mark by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
1991 - A membership recruitment program was created, "Shoot for the Stars." In the mid '90s, it evolved into the Star Recognition Program (White, Red and Blue Star Chapters).
1992 - The TSA elementary program was created, TechnoKids. Later, it was renamed The Great Technology Adventure.
1993 - Tonya Vandergriff became TSA's first female president.
1994 - For the first time, National TSA had more than 100,000 members. The first ever National TSA Day was held on April 24.
1995 - In a partnership between TSA and the National Association of Secondary School Principals, the American Technology Honor Society was formed
1996 - TSA's competitive events program was divided between the middle school and high school levels with each having its own competition guidelines.
1997 - TSA's national conference was held in Washington, DC and it was the first conference with more than 3,500 participants.
1998 - TSA's annual leadership conference took place in two locations, Denver, CO, and Baltimore, MD.
1999 - Under the direction of TSA president James Coleman, Jr. the TSA Constitution and Bylaws were revised and combined. The TSA membership approved a new comprehensive governing document and raised the membership dues to $7.
2000 - The American Technology Honor Society became the National Technology Achievement Award.
2001 - TSA officially became the Technology Student Association and received trademark status from the United States Patent and Trademark Office
2002 - TSA launches its newly redesigned website, www.tsaweb.org.
2003 - TSA celebrates its 25th anniversary. The 25th Anniversary Fund was created to provide membership scholarships to under-served communities. National TSA Day was extended to National TSA Week.
2004 - TSA conducts a first ever Relay Rally at its national conference for the American Cancer Society.
2005 - TSA launches the DuPont Leadership Academy at its national conference, the Mentor Program, TSA and the American Cancer Society launch the Spirit of Service Awards program. Also, the TSA website was again redesigned with two online stores, one for TSA apparel and one for TSA publications and products. TSA's quarterly newsletter, School Scene, started appearing on the website in HTML.
2006 - TSA is awarded a grant from the National Science Foundation to host a two-day symposium for STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) stakeholders and robotics education experts to develop a robotics assessment rubric that can be incorporated into competitive event activities and instruction in the classroom.
2007 - TSA offers its members on-line affiliation as well as on-line national conference registration.
2008 - TSA expands the DuPont Leadership Academy at the 30th annual national conference in Orlando, Florida to include sessions for graduating seniors, chapter and state officers and advisors.
2009 - Developed through a partnership between Project Lead the Way (PLTW), TSA and SkillsUSA, the Engineering Alliance program is launched offering a series of classroom level competitions and leadership development activities designed specifically for Project Lead The Way (PLTW) affiliated middle and high school pre-engineering instructional programs.
2010 - The TSA VEX Robotics Competition partnership provides students with a hands-on co-curricular competition for learning about science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) and complements the existing technology-related competitions offered by TSA. TSA VEX Robotics tournaments will be conducted in conjunction with TSA’s state conferences followed by a championship event at the annual National TSA Conference.
2011 - TSA acquires the TEAMS and Unite programs from the Junior Engineering Technical Society (JETS).
2012 - TSA partners with the Verizon Foundation to offer the Verizon Innovative Learning app challenge.
2013 - TSA celebrates its 35th anniversary.
2013 - TSA hosts the Best in Nation TEAMS competition at the National TSA Conference.
2014 - National TSA has more than 200,000 members for the school year and the National TSA Conference attendance climbs to nearly 7,000.
2014 - TSA holds the first national Junior Solar Sprint (JSS) competition.
2014 - All national TSA competitors are required to wear the blue, official TSA shirt.
2015 - National TSA President Steven Stokes represents TSA at the White House in Washington, D.C.
2016 - TSA's leadership program, LEAP, is announced.
2017 - The national office relocates from 1914 Association Drive to 1904 Association Drive in Reston, VA.
2018 - TSA celebrates its 40th anniversary.
2019 - TSA introduces the Computer Science Initiative.
2020 - The 2020 National TSA Conference, scheduled for Nashville, TN, was not held due to Covid-19.
2021 - TSA hosts its first virtual national conference and TNTSA hosts its first virtual state conference.
2022 - TN TSA Returns to In Person Conferences for the First Time since 2020 Regional Conferences.
2023 - National TSA has more than 300,000 members for the school year and TSA celebrates its 45th anniversary.
1978 - U.S. Office of Education recognized AIASA as the official vocational student organization for industrial arts students.
1978 - AIASA, Inc. is created, beginning financial independence from AIAA.
1978 - Ronald W. Applegate hired as first Executive Director under AIASA, Inc.
1979 - AIASA holds first national conference separate from AIAA.
1981 - National Standards for Industrial Arts Programs includes 11 specific Standards related to student organization.
1985 - Revised Competitive Events Handbook with 5-Year Planning Matrix published.
1988 - Students vote to change name of AIASA to Technology Student Association (TSA) (June 22) A name change trade mark application was placed on file with the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Its first president was Curtis Sheets of Virginia.
1988 - The national office relocated from 1908 Association Drive to its present home at 1914 Association, in Reston, VA
1989 - The official TSA logo was designed by TSA chapter advisor Steve Price of Georgia. The membership adopted the logo for use at the national, state and local level.
1990 - The TSA logo received a registered trade mark by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
1991 - A membership recruitment program was created, "Shoot for the Stars." In the mid '90s, it evolved into the Star Recognition Program (White, Red and Blue Star Chapters).
1992 - The TSA elementary program was created, TechnoKids. Later, it was renamed The Great Technology Adventure.
1993 - Tonya Vandergriff became TSA's first female president.
1994 - For the first time, National TSA had more than 100,000 members. The first ever National TSA Day was held on April 24.
1995 - In a partnership between TSA and the National Association of Secondary School Principals, the American Technology Honor Society was formed
1996 - TSA's competitive events program was divided between the middle school and high school levels with each having its own competition guidelines.
1997 - TSA's national conference was held in Washington, DC and it was the first conference with more than 3,500 participants.
1998 - TSA's annual leadership conference took place in two locations, Denver, CO, and Baltimore, MD.
1999 - Under the direction of TSA president James Coleman, Jr. the TSA Constitution and Bylaws were revised and combined. The TSA membership approved a new comprehensive governing document and raised the membership dues to $7.
2000 - The American Technology Honor Society became the National Technology Achievement Award.
2001 - TSA officially became the Technology Student Association and received trademark status from the United States Patent and Trademark Office
2002 - TSA launches its newly redesigned website, www.tsaweb.org.
2003 - TSA celebrates its 25th anniversary. The 25th Anniversary Fund was created to provide membership scholarships to under-served communities. National TSA Day was extended to National TSA Week.
2004 - TSA conducts a first ever Relay Rally at its national conference for the American Cancer Society.
2005 - TSA launches the DuPont Leadership Academy at its national conference, the Mentor Program, TSA and the American Cancer Society launch the Spirit of Service Awards program. Also, the TSA website was again redesigned with two online stores, one for TSA apparel and one for TSA publications and products. TSA's quarterly newsletter, School Scene, started appearing on the website in HTML.
2006 - TSA is awarded a grant from the National Science Foundation to host a two-day symposium for STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) stakeholders and robotics education experts to develop a robotics assessment rubric that can be incorporated into competitive event activities and instruction in the classroom.
2007 - TSA offers its members on-line affiliation as well as on-line national conference registration.
2008 - TSA expands the DuPont Leadership Academy at the 30th annual national conference in Orlando, Florida to include sessions for graduating seniors, chapter and state officers and advisors.
2009 - Developed through a partnership between Project Lead the Way (PLTW), TSA and SkillsUSA, the Engineering Alliance program is launched offering a series of classroom level competitions and leadership development activities designed specifically for Project Lead The Way (PLTW) affiliated middle and high school pre-engineering instructional programs.
2010 - The TSA VEX Robotics Competition partnership provides students with a hands-on co-curricular competition for learning about science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) and complements the existing technology-related competitions offered by TSA. TSA VEX Robotics tournaments will be conducted in conjunction with TSA’s state conferences followed by a championship event at the annual National TSA Conference.
2011 - TSA acquires the TEAMS and Unite programs from the Junior Engineering Technical Society (JETS).
2012 - TSA partners with the Verizon Foundation to offer the Verizon Innovative Learning app challenge.
2013 - TSA celebrates its 35th anniversary.
2013 - TSA hosts the Best in Nation TEAMS competition at the National TSA Conference.
2014 - National TSA has more than 200,000 members for the school year and the National TSA Conference attendance climbs to nearly 7,000.
2014 - TSA holds the first national Junior Solar Sprint (JSS) competition.
2014 - All national TSA competitors are required to wear the blue, official TSA shirt.
2015 - National TSA President Steven Stokes represents TSA at the White House in Washington, D.C.
2016 - TSA's leadership program, LEAP, is announced.
2017 - The national office relocates from 1914 Association Drive to 1904 Association Drive in Reston, VA.
2018 - TSA celebrates its 40th anniversary.
2019 - TSA introduces the Computer Science Initiative.
2020 - The 2020 National TSA Conference, scheduled for Nashville, TN, was not held due to Covid-19.
2021 - TSA hosts its first virtual national conference and TNTSA hosts its first virtual state conference.
2022 - TN TSA Returns to In Person Conferences for the First Time since 2020 Regional Conferences.
2023 - National TSA has more than 300,000 members for the school year and TSA celebrates its 45th anniversary.
Header Photo Credit: TSAweb.org
