Cascade High School’s Mia Dreis wins national title for STEM-themed children’s book

LEAVENWORTH - Cascade High School senior Mia Dreis earned national recognition this past summer when she took first place at the Technology Student Association’s (TSA) 2024 National Conference for her illustrated children’s story, How Otto Found His Way.

“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,” Dreis recalled of the moment she stood on stage during the awards ceremony.

TSA is a national non-profit organization that provides middle and high school students with opportunities to compete in various science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM)-related fields, including robotics, software development, and even board game and architectural design. Students select a category to compete in and spend the school year developing a final project. For Dreis, that category was the Children’s Story.

“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,” Dreis said, reflecting on her years of competition in the category. With more than 300,000 students competing nationwide each year, the competition is fierce. Only the top three students from the state-level competition can advance to the national stage.

The prompt for the year’s Children’s Story competition called for participants to create an adventure story with a STEM focus, incorporating clues that could be pieced together at the end. Dreis rose to the challenge by skillfully incorporating science concepts while keeping the language simple and accessible for young readers and includes detachable puzzle pieces on each page that can be assembled to complete the story’s puzzle. The reader follows Otto, a curious robot, who embarks on an accidental adventure in the woods, solving scientific challenges to find his way home.

“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,” Dreis said of her determination. “I am glad that I participated in TSA because it made me realize that there are a lot of different types of career path possibilities in STEM fields. It’s not just coding and robotics. It’s a lot of other things, and people with all different types of skills can succeed.”

The experience of competing at the TSA Nationals in Orlando left a lasting impression on Dreis. “Besides the competition itself, my favorite part of the TSA National Conference in Orlando was seeing all the different students from around the nation and the world come together over shared interests. There were so many perspectives and passions united under TSA.”

Dreis’s achievement also highlights the strength of TSA within the Cascade School District, where students consistently outperform those from larger schools and specialized programs. For students considering TSA, Dreis has this advice: “Delve deep into the many diverse events that TSA has to offer. While robotics, coding, and highly traditional STEM events are worthwhile, TSA also supports much more underrepresented STEM pursuits such as fashion design and architectural modeling.”

As for her own future pursuits, Dreis shared that she plans “to attend college in the hopes of getting an engineering degree, a design degree, or a combination of the two. My ultimate goal is to one day work for Disney as one of their ‘Imagineers,’ a coveted position where one contributes to the artistic side of Disney’s creations.”

Hazel Eschen is a senior on the staff of the Cascade High School Publications Group; Caroline Menna is an intern for Ward Media and a senior at Cascade High School, where she serves as Editor-in-Chief of the school’s Publications Group.