Eleven students from the Dr. Gene Burton College and Career Academy brought home three national championships from the Educators Rising National Conference in Portland, Oregon, marking the latest in a string of national wins for Rockwall ISD's career-academy program this year.

The students, competing as members of the school's Texas Association of Future Educators (TAFE) chapter, entered eight events at the June 20-23 conference and placed seventh or higher in every one.

Daphne McEvoy and Hope Waterman took first place in JV Lesson Plan and Delivery–Professional Development. Avery Babb won the Exploring Support Service Careers competition. Wyatt Stovall earned the top spot in Exploring Non-Core Teaching Careers.

Five more students finished in the top seven nationally: Bailey Merfeld placed fourth in Exploring Administrative Careers, Zoey Steffes and Hannah Stafford placed fourth in Public Service Announcement, Kaylee Fitzhugh and Kassidy Swaner placed sixth in Varsity Lesson Plan and Delivery–Professional Development, Ashtyn Huckeba placed seventh in Exploring Administrative Careers, and Paityn Weaver placed seventh in Children's Literature Pre-K.

The conference drew more than 3,200 attendees from across the country and featured more than 100 student-led competitive events at the Oregon Convention Center.

Three GBCCA teacher leaders guided the students through the competition season: Robin Peterson, Kelley Cavin and Nip McIlwain. Cavin coached Stovall and Huckeba; McIlwain coached Weaver.

"We are incredibly proud of the way these students represented their schools, families, district, and community," Peterson, Cavin and McIlwain said in a district announcement published Aug. 7.

The Educators Rising wins are separate from GBCCA culinary student Kennedy J.'s second-place national finish at the FCCLA National Leadership Conference in Washington, D.C., which we reported July 28. The career academy also sent students to two national championships at the Business Professionals of America conference in Nashville and an eighth-place team finish at the National ProStart Invitational in Baltimore earlier this year.

The three national championship results were independently confirmed on the organization's official competition results page published June 23. Rockwall ISD has not announced a date for formal recognition of the students.