Manatee County students to compete in national TSA competition

Thirteen-year-old Sidney Buice paid attention when he and his Technology Student Association teammates brainstormed about projects they could build to benefit the environment.

Teammate Isabella Pasquale talked about how plastic bottles made their way to the oceans.

Sidney thought about his family’s love of fishing and boating. They used those waters, and he wanted them to be clean.

“My family used to have one trash can, but now we have recycling,” Sidney said. “We didn’t realize how important it was.”

Sidney and his teammates — Pasquale, Reese Jones, Ryan Gustason, Grace Kelley and Justin Tong — will compete in the “construction challenge” category of the national TSA competition June 23-26 in Atlanta.

Tasked with constructing something to benefit the community, Sidney came up with the idea for an “Eco Post,” a stand-alone information box to be placed at the community center at GreyHawk Landing. It is filled with environmentally focused books, as well as seeds people can plant. The side of the box displays facts about the environment and how to help it.

“We’ve included books for all ages so everyone can take part in benefiting the environment,” Isabella said.

The students said they hope their Eco Post will encourage others to think about the environment and change their behavior.

It’s already impacted Sidney.

“We can influence more people to think about what they do,” he  said.