NM MESA Celebrates STEM Day and MESA Day at the NM Legislature

NM MESA Celebrates STEM Day More Diversity in NM MESA and MESA Day at the NM Legislature Toney Begay Executive Director Kim Scheerer students for college majors and careers in deed, more than 100 MESA students from We are in the midst of the 2016-2017 CI Regional Coordinator mathematics, engineering and science. Cibola, McKinley, Rio Arriba, Sandoval, school year throughout the state of New This is in accordance with Senate Me- San Miguel and Santa Fe counties brought Mexico. We, New Mexico Mathematics, On January 18th, the Legislators of morial Bill 10, introduced by Senator Pete more than 1,000 letters of support for NM Engineering, Science Achievement, Inc. Santa Fe celebrated the first official STEM Campos from District 8 encompassing MESA to deliver to Representatives and (NM MESA) have been very busy meet- (science, technology, engineering and Colfax, Mora, Harding and much of San Senators from all over the Land of En- ing our mission, even with the additional mathematics) Day at the Roundhouse! Or- Miguel County. The bill recognizes NM chantment. challenges of reduced funding. We are ganized and supported by the Los Alamos MESA for its contributions to science edu- Students heard special presentations by reaching students throughout the state who cation achievement, college preparation, may or may not be thinking about attend- career guidance, field trips, academic com- ing college and majoring in the Science, petitions, leadership workshops, summer Technology, Engineering and Mathematics programs, scholarship incentives, com- (STEM) fields. munity service and teacher professional Our student participants vary and re- development. flect the diversity of our state. NM MESA Both the Senate and House then work on has been a beacon appropriations that significantly contribute of hope and encour- to NM MESA funding. The testimony of agement for thou- students, live in the legislative chambers or sands of New Mex- written in letters to lawmakers, is crucial ico students with for legislators to understand the continued enormous challeng- positive impact NM MESA is making on es and obstacles. STEM education in the Land of Enchant- We have succeeded ment. throughout the years NM MESA encourages students, teach- Photo by Kim Scheerer in raising student ers, parents and others to participate in the Many of the MESA students from northern and western New Mexico pose in the academic achieve- Toney Begay democratic process at the grass-roots level! State Capitol Rotunda during MESA Day, January 31. Students observed and ment for college preparation, graduation, Take the time to share your thoughts with learned about the legislative process, delivered more than 1,000 letters of support scoring in the higher percentile of student your representatives and learn the power to lawmakers and demonstrated the informed citizenship that is one of the primary testing, and producing engineering and sci- of speaking up… it’s only when we work goals of the MESA program. ence prototypes encapsulating the STEM together that we see real change. That is a learning concepts required in academic Public Education Department and Higher lesson that could make a big difference in National Laboratories (LANL) Foundation, competitions. Education officials in addition to observing the very partisan climate that is governing New Mexico MESA was there to share in The MESA USA National Rules Com- the legislature discuss and debate policy. what Time magazine in December, 2016 the experience and raise our voices. mittee is diligently working on the next na- Some students were even able to meet described as the “Divided States of Amer- Students from Taft Middle School, Van tional competition. MESA USA will capi- briefly with their respective legislators and ica.” Buren Middle School and South Valley talize on the nation-wide MESA purchases Academy all participated by taking the of Arduino platform and programing equip- Rail Runner, our local commuter train, ment and supplies. The competition will from Albuquerque to Santa Fe! A huge be an Arduino research and engineering THANKS to those teachers that worked design utilizing that research to address an to organize students and families for Rail issue. We, at the national level are trying Runner drop-off and pick-up; they include: very hard to keep the expenses to a man- Dewette Decker (Taft), Aleli Colon & Jan- ageable level for schools and teams. We ice Peters (Van Buren) and Sariah Bujanda feel this new competition does that. (SVA). NM MESA and other state MESA pro- Using collective voices, presence and grams are known for their diversity. We at letters to let state representatives and sena- NM MESA have the word “diversity” in tors know about the importance of commu- our mission statement and value inclusiv- nity programs like MESA, the events of the ity as a core organizational priority. With Day went a long way in helping to secure this in mind the NM MESA staff voted to funding for student activities, teacher sup- change the Loyalty Award distribution to port and staff positions! Schools that par- make available the Award to all NM MESA ticipated in the day got to experience a tour students in our program who meet program of the Roundhouse, the political protocol of participation requirements. We believe a the legislative chambers, the art of the Cap- student who is loyal to NM MESA and itol and also took the time to deliver letters completes the required criteria should re- to their representatives and Governor Su- ceive the benefits of our program. sana Martinez. Additional STEM support- Photo by Kim Scheerer Thank you to all the NM MESA Advisors ers on the Roundhouse Rotunda during the MESA students from Taft Middle School gather around Representative Sarah Mae- and schools who are true partners in devel- day included the NM Museum of Natural stas Barnes, whose district includes much of the Taft neighborhood. Maestas Barnes, oping the generation of STEM, STEAM, History and Science, the Albuquerque Bal- a former MESA student who is now a wife, mom, lawyer and business owner, is a or STEM-H professionals. Thank you also loon Museum, Española YMCA Robotics, staunch supporter of the MESA program. to our partners, donors, and supporters. Sandia Mountain Natural History Center, voice their particular concerns. several universities, community colleges This is the purpose of the annual MESA Check inside for the following articles - and more. legislative field trip – provide students the STEM Day was the first of two days in opportunity to witness the legislative pro- * US, NM Science Scores and MESA Initiatives..................................................p. 2 which MESA students shared their voices cess and see state government in action. for a democratic republic in Santa Fe. The * Clarizza Morales Chacon - Selfless Senior of the Year......................................p. 4 A learning experience for all involved, it official MESA Day at the legislature was is also an excellent opportunity for NM Tuesday, January 31st and students from * Regional Overviews ..........................................................................................p. 5 MESA to showcase its program. Attend- the North, North Central and West regions * SOCKTOBER Changes Lives, 2017 SIFT PReview...........................................p.7 ees acted as ambassadors for NM MESA filled the roles of advocate, as well as, while helping NM MESA continue its mis- * MESA Day Preview ...........................................................................................p. 8 community and MESA representatives. In- sion of preparing middle and high school 2 VISION - Winter, 2017 US STEM Education Continues to Pale Against the World; Rick Cole CO Regional Coordinator Seldom has a day gone by that another news story places NM near the bottom of some educational achievement list, socio- economic category or jobs growth analy- sis. Numerous articles have also sought to explain these frustrating phenomena, espe- cially since our neighboring states consis- tently fare better than the Land of Enchant- ment on each of those yardsticks. However, the United States, as a whole, is also slipping in these same categories. As indicated by the latest Program for In- ternational Student Assessment (PISA), American students continue to struggle in the standings in math, reading and science performance. At the same time, the number of American children growing up in poverty has escalated sharply, particularly during the last eight years, and more Ameri- cans, particularly men ages 25-50, are not working (this includes unemployed who are seeking employment and those who are not) at any time since the Great Depression of the 1930s. The PISA is an international exam conducted on 510,000 public school students in 65 nations every three years. It consists of uniform, standardized tests in Math, Reading and Science. When the exam was first conducted in 2000, the US was a top- 20 performer in each category. The US slipped to 36th in math by 2012 and further to 41st in 2015. In reading, the US dropped to 28th in reading by 2012 but rebounded slightly to 24th by 2015. Similarly, Amer- ica dropped to28th in science in 2012 and recovered to 25th in 2015. PISA is a comprehensive 6 ½ hour exam for 15 and 16-year olds that concentrates on the ability to solve real-world problems using math. Language arts is a mix of multiple-choice and short-answer questions that seek to evaluate student ability to con- struct, extend and reflect on the meaning of what they have read across a wide range of continuous and non-continuous texts. The science component examines student knowledge and skills across both life and physical sciences in a mix of multiple- choice, short-answer questions, problem- solving and analytical essays. Numerous explanations have evolved as to why certain nations improve and why other stagnate or decline. For example, Singapore leads all categories on the test. It is a small, prosperous nation with a cul- ture highly respectful of education, practi- cally devoid of unemployment and poverty and culturally homogenous.

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