Spring/Summer 2010
Growing up in a small town in Montana in the tradition-laden 1950s, Ms. Vonna Hammerschmitt had some rather non-traditional talents.
She was good in science, and entered every science fair starting in junior high school. It wasn't something girls were supposed to do, but she had a science teacher who encouraged her. She was good at math, too, but in her high school, because "girls didn't take calculus," her math education ended with Algebra II.
"Believe me, in 1967, when I graduated from college, there was no such thing, for example, as a female engineer," Ms. Hammerschmitt recalled. "Women were either teachers, secretaries, or nurses and most girls went to college to get their 'Mrs.' degree."
Despite these early limitations, Ms. Hammerschmitt has devoted her life to math and science education. As program director for the Math, Engineering, Science Achievement (MESA) Program, she recently received the Outstanding Engineering Educator Award from the Orange County Engineering Council.
"I am excited and honored to receive this award," she said, from her compact office at Anaheim Union High School District headquarters, where she serves 1,000 students at Savanna High School and 19 additional north Orange County middle and high schools. "Many people in education do great things for students every day, so it is always a great privilege to be recognized."
To be recognized by the engineering council is exciting, too, because it means that others outside the MESA family understand and appreciate the work she and her colleagues do.
The mission of MESA, now celebrating its 40th anniversary in California, is to encourage disadvantaged students to pursue science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields in college.
"I feel I have done a good job if my students go on to higher education and if they choose a STEM field, well, that is an added bonus," Ms. Hammerschmitt said. "MESA is an ideal job. I help students become successful and reach their full potential. I use my administrative training to manage an office and deal with budget matters, but I also have many opportunities to work with students."
Ms. Hammerschmitt began her tenure with MESA in 1986, and has been recognized three times as the top MESA director in the state. She received a bachelor's degree in education from Montana State University and taught for three years at an elementary school in her home state. She then spent the next nine years as a teacher and math coordinator in inner-city Los Angeles. While teaching, she earned a master's degree in educational administration, with the intent of becoming a principal. However, she never pursued that path because it would have meant working less closely with young people.
MESA was housed at Cal State Fullerton until last year. Because Ms. Hammerschmitt had previously worked with Dr. Fred Navarro, AUHSD's assistant superintendent of education, and he believed in the program, MESA took up its new quarters here.
"MESA is a great opportunity for students to learn science, technology, and mathematics in a project-based environment," Dr. Navarro said. "It provides them with challenging problems that they solve as a part of a team, and learn by using their minds and their hands.
"Our nation is suffering from a lack of college students entering science, technology, engineering, and math majors, and it has been documented that we are not producing enough graduates in STEM careers to meet our country's demand. MESA provides an opportunity to expose students to STEM careers and allow them to see the opportunities available to them in these career options. MESA just might be the vehicle to getting students interested in STEM majors as they apply for college."
Student success stories abound, according to Ms. Hammerschmitt. "I am constantly running into students at the mall or other public places. They come up and say, 'Aren't you the MESA lady?' Their faces are not familiar to me, but their names are. They tell me how they have gone on to graduate from college, are teaching, working in engineering or computer fields, or pursuing their dreams in other ways. I have parents who insist every one of their children be part of the MESA Program. I even have some former MESA students who are now MESA teachers. In December, one of my MESA teachers received an email from his former students from a decade ago who were gathering for a MESA reunion, and they invited him to come."
Excerpted from an article published by the Anaheim Union High School District.
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