Tech Student Association Names Princeton Teacher Advisor of the Year

PRINCETON, NJ — Matthew Halfacre, design and engineering teacher at Princeton Middle School, was recently named the New Jersey Middle School “Advisor of the Year” by the Technology Student Association.

Halfacre serves as one of the advisors for the Technology Student Association club.

TSA is a national organization of students competing against each other in STEM-related areas.

“It is an honor to be awarded the New Jersey Middle School TSA Advisor of the Year award,” Halfacre said. “The amazing work that the students complete each year and the hard work from my co-advisor Randy Casey, makes the experience of being an advisor very rewarding.”

This year, Princeton Middle School brought 40 students to the New Jersey State TSA conference.

Jason Burr, principal of Princeton Middle School, praised Halfacre for his work.

“His dedication has enabled many of our students to achieve much more than they ever thought possible, and we are very proud of the sophisticated technology projects created by students in the club,” Burr said.

"It is an opportunity for students to visit a college campus, and to connect with students from other schools and see their projects. It will take collaborative thinking to combat both emerging and long-standing global issues. I am proud of the creativity and the fortitude of our students."

In April, Princeton Middle School students won multiple awards at the TSA event. Here's the list:

• 3rd Place in Children's Stories: Milla Petrecca
• 3rd Place in Construction Challenge: Katy Burns, Julian Bird, and Ethan Robinson
• 2nd Place in Website Design: Amelia Huang, Aryahi Pimple, Jasmine Shah, Elena Shen and Fei-Fei Wang
• 2nd Place in Mechanical Engineering: Temu De Los Santos, Fransisco Vozone, and Daniel Wong
• 2nd Place in Biotechnology: Angela Cao, Amelia Huang, and Fei-Fei Wang
• 1st Place in Microcontroller Design: Yochin Chang.