Education and fun the hallmarks of recent MESA Day Academy Nearly 700 excited Mathematics, Engineering, Science Achievement (MESA) students from throughout the Central Valley descended upon CSU Bakersfield recently for a day of science, engineering, education and fun during a regional competition. The Pacific Bell MESA Day Academy was designed to test the students’ knowledge of math and science principles. A number of university dignitaries and government officials also attended the gathering. Assemblyman Dean Florez, Bakersfield Mayor Bob Price, CSU Bakersfield President Dr. Tomŕs Arciniega and Provost Dr. Robert Catlin all added their support to the event. The 30-year-old MESA program, administered by the University of California, is one of the oldest and most successful programs designed to serve educationally disadvantaged students. MESA establishes partnerships with higher education segments and K-12 schools to help students succeed in math and science. MESA currently works with over 20,000 students throughout California from elementary through university levels. MESA provides a rigorous learning environment, which supports students toward excellence in math and science. All the MESA Day attendees had won preliminary competitions to advance to the regional event. “Congratulations for just being here. You are all winners,” President Arciniega told students. “This is easily the best program of its kind throughout the country and you’ve taken advantage of it. CSU Bakersfield is here to support you and this program. Don’t let it go. We can help you continue to pursue your dreams,” he said. Juanita Muniz-Torres, statewide director of MESA’s Schools Program (MSP), presented a Governor’s Commendation lauding Pacific Bell MESA Day Academies to the CSU Bakersfield MESA Director Armando Rivera. MESA Day activities included the egg drop competitions where students dropped packaged and single unpackaged eggs to see how many survive. It also featured the mousetrap car competition to see which car traveled the farthest powered by a single mousetrap and the straw tower or paper tower contests where winning students were those who created the tallest structure using only plastic straws and tape, or a sheet of paper and tape. Middle and high school students also participated in math, English composition and impromptu speech contests. High school students participated in a simulated Verbal SAT I test. MESA Engineering Program students from universities throughout the Central Valley and engineering industry representatives helped judge events. Participating companies included Pacific Bell, Chevron, Oxy Corp., Raytheon and PG&E. Mike Moshier, an engineer with Oxy Corp., volunteered his day to judge the air-powered vehicles contest. “I love kids and this is a wonderful program. This is a bonus for me. We want to show kids that there is a better way for their lives to go. And we want them to know that people do care,” he said. MESA students were excited about just attending competition. “This is cool,” said Lorenzo Mesta, an eighth-grader from Main Street Middle School in Soledad. “I get to see the best (competitors) from other schools.” Ritchie Cisneros, a seventh-grader from Moss Landing Middle School in Moss Landing, said he learned a lot while creating his mousetrap car. “It’s good to see how the mechanical parts fit together and work together. I learned a lot about engineering and physics principles,” he said. Bakersfield parent Patricia Suell attended the event for the first time with her daughter Breanna Clark, a sixth-grader at Kern Middle School. “This is nice for the kids,” she said. “It’s both educational and fun.” Roger Fondren, a junior at South High School in Bakersfield, was enthused by his impromptu speech topic. “It was ‘Do you think programming on television is violent and should it be censored?’,” he said. “I said it is violent and some of it should be censored. It’s bad for kids to see all that violence. I loved that topic because it’s something that I really care about.”
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