...I am writing to tell you what a wonderful time my daughter, Jamie Kirkland, had at the MESA program at Westview Middle School this year. She enjoyed all of the hands-on activities, the visitors, the field trips, and the local district MESA night. She even had the opportunity to serve as an officer and she was only a sixth grader! I have to tell you about one remarkable thing that happened to my daughter this year. Her team's project for the district competition wasn't working out, so they finally decided to scrap their project. Now, that's real life! Business people have to make tough decisions just like that every day. Most interestingly, she chose not to dwell on the project's failure. Instead, she found another group that needed assistance. She helped them design their PowerPoint presentation and ultimately had a very positive experience. Much of the credit for Jamie's success in the MESA program must be given to Mr. David Myers, the MESA mentor at Westview. His upbeat personality, combined with his ability to put the students at ease, really contributed to a terrific time for all of the students involved. I know that the individual who replaces him this fall will have some big shoes to fill. Karen, I don't think a parent could ask for more. The transition to middle school can be a difficult time for children and I feel strongly that the camaraderie of the MESA experience has helped my daughter to remain a confident student with straight A report cards again this year! I hope that the St. Vrain Valley School District sees the benefit of this program and continues to support it. With sincere appreciation.
Lorraine Kirkland Lorraine H. Kirkland Kirkland & Company, CPA's
We thought MESA was wonderful!! Not only was it great exposure to math, science, etc., but it stressed application to real life. Tamara would frequently try to correlate what she learned to other areas after a MESA encounter. Tamara never enjoyed math, and it's still not her favorite subject, but at least now she says "it's not too bad" and she understands why it's important to understandit.
Additionally, she was always excited to go to MESA and learn--I never had to push her. Despite the wonderful middle school teachers she has been lucky enough to have, there are days when Tamara doesn't want to go to school. I think she's bored with the curriculum at times and the constraints of middle school. MESA helped her stay excited, and in fact I was considering transfer to a private school prior to implementation of the MESA program. I don't want my kid who was always so enthusiastic about everything new to be stifled, bored, and unhappy. MESA really helped her to stay engaged this year.
Another thing I really liked was that the students were given responsibility and not treated like juvenile delinquents. I realize this is a strong statement with some implied criticism. I fully understand why there are so many constraints in middle school, but on the other hand I very much appreciated the fact that in MESA the students were treated as mature developing individuals.
I also want to point out how hard it is for girls to show they are smart. MESA was a safe outlet for not only intellectual growth but also allowed Tamara to show leadership skills. We are so grateful to the MESA volunteers for their leadership and hard work, and especially for the encouragement of my child!!!!
---Lynn Fernandez, parent, Lyons Middle School
Good morning, Gloria and Karen.
I thought I'd give you a quick update and anecdote about our MESA program at Loma Linda Elementary this semester. Lauren Gunderson, our new Outreach Coordinator, has organized an incredible program this semester. We're working with 28 5th graders. As usual, our success is thanks to dedicated teachers who are leading Loma Linda MESA and our great undergraduate students who are having more fun than the 5th graders. We had our rocket fuel experimentation day yesterday and we finally perfected the module! I had a particularly touching sentiment said to me by one of the students and I thought you might like to hear the impact your hard work is having on these students.
Bernadette Garcia, Space Grant Consortium- CU Boulder
... I'm also very excited that on the MESA website there is a photo of a former student, Carlos Pereya, in his Skyline Graduation robe! I saw him recently working at Three Margaritas. He told me that he plans to go to medical school to be a pediatrician.
Janet Benter, Heritage Middle School MESA Advisor
... I am very familiar and a huge fan of the MESA program. My youngest son was very active in MESA all through middle school. What a wonderful time he had and he truly learned some amazing things! He is now in his freshman year at CU Leeds Business. I truly believe that MESA had a part in his academic success! You are very welcome for the help and please do not hesitate to call on me anytime!
Julie Rochon, Receptionist/Clerk Human Resources - St. Vrain Valley Schools
... I worked with a group of 4 girls yesterday during this activity (Alka Selzer rockets). As we discussed their graphs and talked about which fuel worked most efficiently, one of the girls noted that she thought the final test they did went the highest, not only because of the heat of the water and the crushed tablet, but because our rocket had fallen off the film canister, so we just launched a film canister by itself. She said she thought that the missing rocket made the canister lighter, so that was one reason it went higher. I assured her that she was right and congratulated her on noting that in her data report. She got very quiet as if she were considering something and then looked at me and said very seriously, "I didn't know my brain worked." She broke into a huge grin - very pleased with herself and her experiments.
At Space Grant, we work with K-12 kids in the hopes of encouraging them to consider science and engineering as a possible future. It was clear to me after yesterday, that we are doing something more than that in our collaboration with MESA. For some, we are encouraging them to simply see themselves as thinkers, as learners. Karen has said it to us before and I believed her, but the student's words yesterday made this fact that much clearer for me.
Thanks for all the time and effort you put into MESA. Your program has made our programming better and better. Have a great day.
---Bernadette Garcia, Associate Director Education/Public Outreach and Administration Colorado
Space Grant Consortium
520 UCB Discovery Learning Center
Room 270 Boulder, CO 80309
303-492-3141 (phone)