Mendota Junior High

During these last few months, Mendota Mesa has participated in several interactive activities. Some of these activities include drafting, mini- competitions, and preliminary competitions.

In the months of August through November we have been practicing how to draft. It has taught us how to be precise and accurate. It has also taught us how to use professional drafting tools.

During the month of December we have been participating in windmill. This mini-competition gives us a small taste of what MESA is about.

We have also talked about various preliminary competitions. Everyone has selected their MESA Day activities.

In conclusion, Mendota MESA has been productive so far. We are planning to increase our participation.

Bullard High School MESA

Since the beginning of the year, our club has grown to about 30 members.  So far, we have participated in our school's club day, where we had a table showcasing the VEX robot. 
We have also attended two Saturday Acadamies at Fresno State.  At the Saturday Academies the VEX robotics team competes in various challenges and other members do fun workshops to get ready for our MESA projects.  During some lunch periods, students come in to work on thier MESA projects or work on the Robot. While we are thier we talk about how to improve and perfect our MESA Projects.

Mendota MESA Working Together

The MESA club in Mendota high school has expanded its student body, over the past few years. We have been gathering ideas for fundraising. It’s complicated to have everybody agree with each other, but somehow we cooperate and accomplish things. I can say it is a working process, but we are working on it. We are planning to make a bake sale here at school but we are not sure because we first have to get approval. If that does not work then we are just going to stick with a candy sale.

We also talk about the MESA day projects. We make sure everyone knows what they are supposed to do and how they are supposed to do it. We give them the project rules, so that they know we are not going to trick them on doing things wrong just because there are other people in the club doing the same activity. There are examples and pictures that we have to show them so that they can get an idea on how to do the project, especially if it is their first time on the project. It might take more practice but it is all worth the excitement.

All we expect from the Mesa members is for them to have fun and enjoy what they are doing. We would want for all members to come back next year. That is why we try to make everything really fun. Now we are having positive comments because so far they are having fun and we like to hear that. So that is what we have been up to these past few days in Mesa.

Los Banos Junior High School Leadership Class of 2012

Back Row Left – to –Right:  Itzel Quintero, Kellen Haug, Gurlynn Gill, Erik Hernandez, Sammy Perez
Front Row Left – To – Right: Elizabeth Guzman, Julisa Ornales, Nayeli Gonzalez, Jimmy Georgiou

President: Elizabeth Guzman
Los Banos Junior High School is going to make this year incredible for our MESA program. Our school has been doing great on fundraisers. We sell brownies and cookies during school hours, and boy, do those get sold out fast. Brownies and cookies are not the only things that get sold in our school. We also sell ice cream after school when the days are hot, and you cannot stand the heat, so students come and buy ice cream. One of our advisors, Mr. Wilson, sells sodas and water when he has tutoring after school. When those soda cans, and water bottles are empty we recycle them to get money. We also have other teachers that help us recycle. Teachers have their own recycling box and when they are full, students are sent to their classes to pick them up.

Our MESA school is very dedicated to this program. We make sure we complete everything on time. We have meetings once or twice a week usually on Wednesdays at break. We share ideas on fundraising, upcoming events, and future plans for our program, especially on how to improve our MESA program. Every two weeks we send out newsletters to students and parents informing them on current events, upcoming events, and important dates to attend. As you can see, we are making good progress and we are focused on making our MESA program better.

Secretary: Sammy Perez
We have done some pretty cool things in MESA this year such as, the MESA Orientation Night, and learned about the OnlineU. We have also worked on some fun enrichment activities such as the Glider, Paper Bridge, and Windmill. We will soon work on the Paper Car.


Treasurer: Jimmy Georgiou
In our Junior High, we are doing a lot of things, besides just MESA, like the 1st Priority club, which is held during both lunches. The club is about Christianity and to follow the rules God gave us.  I’m in the club myself and I think it is really fun.  Also, we’re having some band marches coming up in Santa Cruz, Merced, and many more places, so don’t miss out on our tiger pride!  We have also had a campus clean up competition just recently and 1st lunch won.  The prize was an early release from their class before 1st lunch.  Although, they said it was the last campus clean up competition, I think they will change their minds and make another campus clean up competition. Lastly, we are having our regular free after school tutoring, so don’t miss out!

We are also doing a lot of things in MESA as well. Such as fieldtrips that are coming up, like the Student Leadership Retreat that on September 24th, the 1st Saturday Academy on October 22, and the deadline to sign up for that is, October 3rd, if all the spaces are still open by then. 

Photographer: Nayeli Gonzalez
Los Banos Junior High School’s MESA has been doing great! We started the year strong with fundraisers, preparing for the Solo Math Competition, 600 Club and the MESA Club! The Leadership Team sells ice cream, cookies, and brownies during and afterschool. Our fundraisers are to fund scholarships for the Catalina Island Trips, and College Road Trip.
We are preparing for the Solo Math Competition and doing the 600 Club. The preparation for the Solo Math Competition is every Friday from 3:10 to 4:30. The MESA program at LBJHS has volunteer tutors to help us prepare! This year we began to do the 600 Club where the students prepare for the CST’s every Friday, during the same time as the preparation for the Solo Math Competition.

We have about 20 students in the MESA Club. They have meetings on Mondays during break and Friday’s afterschool in Mrs. Salcido’s classroom. I have been helping Mrs. Salcido with the meetings and to recruit new students! In Mrs. Salcido classroom we do enrichments and compete. I hope LBJHS does awesome this year!

3rd Period Representative: Shyanne Vargas
This week at LBJHS we are working on keeping our school clean. MESA is also working on recycling to save the environment and to also raise money for our MESA program. In each MESA teacher's class there is a bin for recycling.  Last time that we recycled everything that we had collected we made $35.68. The Leadership class that is run by Mrs. Smith collects the bottles every so often and turns them in to Mr. Wilson.

RJJH MESA Accomplishments!

This year RJJH MESA has already got a lot of things accomplished! One of our biggest achievements has been MESA buddies. MESA buddies is when each seventh grader gets to request an 8th grade MESA buddy. They then exchange numbers and then do activities together. It’s a really good way to get to know MESA and be involved with other students straight from the beginning. It’s also just a way to make the incoming students feel more comfortable in the class and get used to the adjustments of junior high. The leadership team came up with this idea while brainstorming at our leadership retreat to Kings Canyon National Park. Our leadership group spent three days and two nights participating in leadership activities, challenges, hikes, reflections, and brainstorming great ideas for the new year in MESA.  It was a great way to get to know each other and form a bond. We did a lot of activities to get to know each other including walking with a blindfold while the partner had to lead the person with the blindfold. That took trust! We now can trust each other with anything. We all feel like a closer team that can face the challenges our new school year brings.

RJJH MESA held a parent meeting after Back to School Night, informing parents on what will be happening during this year and gearing up for our main fundraiser of the year, the back to school dance. The dance theme was "RJJH Hollywood Premiere Night," and included a red carpet entrance and paparazzi. Students danced for two hours straight while viewing photos of themselves on the big screen. Although the final numbers haven't come in yet, early estimates show our dance raised over $1,000 for our MESA group.

This year in MESA class, we have we have been doing mini mysteries, hands on activities, working very hard to get the dance ready, learning MESA basic with the OnlineU, and taking notes on aeronautics from our guest speaker, Mr. Bouck. Our leadership team has been holding leadership meetings every Friday at lunch. We also just got word that RJJH won the $300 enrollment incentive award! This is an example of how hard our leadership team is working to make this year a success. This year will continue to be a great one for Rafer...GO MESA!!!

Leadership Team

 Team Work

Trust Walk

Delano MESA

Throughout the 2010-2011 year, MESA, Delano High's club was able to set up a few projects for our fellow members to participate in. This was done to give students a first exposure of what MESA was about. The first project that we did was paper airplanes. Our advisor chose the winner based on how far it flew and its accuracy. Many people constructed their own plane designs but only two were winners. As the students flew their planes each round, the distance was increased to provide a more challenging contest. The second project MESA members did was a spaghetti tower using marshmallows of various sizes. They were paired up in partners to complete the project within a limited amount of time. Students were pressured by the time limit and some were able to complete the tower in time. Thus, the tower to hold the greatest mass received a prize. Overall, the mini projects we did during our afterschool meeting really help our members get an understanding of how to build and design different types of structures to prepare them for the actual competition. Furthermore, also this gave them a new perspective in engineering and innovation outside of the traditional high school curriculum.

It has come to our clubs attention that we should give back to the community. The community where we were raised, the community that supported us and the club throughout the years. Even through troubled economic times, the school has been supporting our club and helping the club afford most of it expenses. Because of our school's unwavering support, our club has taken the liberty of cleaning our school's garden. It not only left the garden more pleasant to look at year round, but also for this year's WASC visit. Without a doubt the maintenance of the garden help make our school more appealing in a most crucial visit. The visit that would determine our school's credibility. Thus, MESA at  Delano has made an impact in the overall appearance of Delano High School and has given many students an ability and exposure to non-traditional activities.

Hoover MESA Off to Regionals

At MESA this Saturday we did an amazing job. Over 30 students competed and we won big.

Civil Structures 1st Place: Tiffany Vang and Jackson Xiong
Civil Structures 2nd Place: Tou Thao and Chue Yee Vang
Civil Structures 2nd Place Design: Tiffany Vang, Jackson Xiong, Tou Thao and Chue Yee Vang
Manila Mechanics 3rd Place Design: Mai Chao Yang
Egg Express 9-10th Grade 2nd Place: Rebecca Gage
Egg Express 11-12th Grade: Natalie Krbechek and Souphany Phavorachith
Mousetrap Car Accuracy 1st Place: Alexa Emory and Rebecca Gage
Mousetrap Car Power 1st Place: Yucai Tan and Jackson Xiong
Mousetrap Car Power 2nd Place: Amarachi Egbuziem and Alyssa McGee
Mousetrap Car Creativity 3rd Place: Jen Gip and Shane Mathews
Mousetrap Car Creativity 2nd Place: Amarachi Egbuziem and Alyssa McGee
Speak Easy 2nd Place: Andrew Loera
Model Airplane 2nd Place: Holly Garcia
Model Airplane 1st Place: Sunny Vue and Sheng Vang
Balsawood Glider 1st Place: Rebecca Gage and Alexa Emory

We also have our Windmill Energy Team of Alexa Emory, Natalie Krbechek, Pa Nhia Vang and Sokha Uk advancing to regionals and the following students qualified for regionals in mathematics: Tiffany Vang, Adrianna Richards, Josue Ortega, Holly Garcia, Tou Thao, Maria Elvajyan, Alyssa McGee, Amarachi Egbuziem, Natalie Krbechek, Sunny Vue, and Raquel Lopez.

Hoover is very proud of all of its Mesa members who competed this past Saturday, and have worked hard all year. We are very excited to start working on the projects for regionals. We have work days scheduled after school and we are having meetings every week to keep our members informed. We are also helping our seniors apply for scholarships and to finish their enrolment process.

Edison MESA off to college!

Edison MESA is College Bound this month!  EHS students along with all other seniors across the country are scrambling to get college apps and scholarships turned in on time.  We have been discussing the advantages of being a MESA student when it comes to applying to these different programs at our weekly meetings.  We have also talked about engineering and MESA related scholarship opportunities like the Gates-Millennium scholarship and others throughout the year.

 

In fact, two Edison MESA students, Jaime Sanchez and Joshua Douglas, were awarded full-ride Questbridge College Match Scholarships to the University of Chicago and Penn!  These are some of the many success stories we hope to hear from our Edison seniors!

 

Also, our teams are "prepping" and testing their projects for GAME DAY in March.  Our members are anxious and eager to see some friendly competition next month.  We have also been planning our trip to the San Jose Tech Museum coming up in May (after the almighty AP testing of course, Edison students are proudly devoted to the AP curriculum).  As the third quarter is coming to a close, we wish the best of luck to all MESA students whether you're working on your projects or "movin' on up" to college!

Favorite Saturday Academy Memories

Here in the MESA Office, we're busy getting ready for our last Saturday Academy of the year. We want to know some of your favorite memories from the first three Saturday Academies. Post a comment telling us what you liked about the October, November, and December Academies, and earn a raffle ticket for everyone from your school who attends the February Academy. (We'll limit the number of extra tickets to two per school, but we would love to hear as many memories as you want to share!) Post by 2/22 to earn tickets. Thanks for sharing!

A New Beginning

Pacheco High is a newly built school. Since this is our first year there is not much to talk about. We have new classes and a cool all-weather stadium. We have had a good year MESA-wise. We are looking forward to many good years.

This year Pacheco High had done a couple of fundraisers. We started with a chicken dinner which was a success. We also raffled off an iPod. Next, we plan on using Scratchers to get money donated to our club. The money we make from our fundraisers is going to pay for our transportation and any trips we might want to go on.

Our goals for our students this year are to attend all four Saturday Academies, participate in the preliminary competition with at least one project, and to have a team to compete in the Windmill Energy Challenge. So far we have one team to compete in the Windmill Energy Challenge and we are about to attend our fourth Saturday Academy. We hope to do the best we possibly can this year with hard work and dedication. See you at Prelims!