FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 4, 2010
Danielle McNamara
(510) 987-0230
Press Release
Mario Magallanes, a teacher at William Moreno Jr. High School in Calexico, received the High School Advisor of the Year Award from a nationally recognized math and science program.
Mathematics, Engineering, Science Achievement (MESA) honored Magallanes for his outstanding work in assisting educationally disadvantaged students to excel in math and science. Magallanes was selected from among MESA teachers representing 120 high schools in California. A ninth grade science teacher, he has served as a MESA advisor for seven years.
Mr. Magallanes’ students are served by the MESA Imperial Valley center.
“He is extremely committed to their education and he is not only a fantastic teacher, but a mentor and friend to his students, said Imperial Valley MESA Director Jeanette Ramos. MESA students in Mr. Magallanes’ class were asked to do a goal setting activity in which we asked them to list someone they really looked up to. More than 90 percent of them listed him as their hero – I think that sums up Mr. Magallanes pretty well.”
Ninety-nine percent of Magallanes’ students are Latino; 75 percent participate in the free/reduced price meal program and 57 percent are English language learners.
MESA is an academic preparation program that serves more than 20,000 California pre-college, community college and university students who are educationally disadvantaged. Seventy percent of schools served by MESA are among the lowest-performing in the state. Almost two-thirds of MESA high school graduates go on to college as math, engineering or science majors. In 2001, 14,000 California jobs requiring science or engineering degrees went unfilled, making award-winning programs such as MESA an imperative. MESA is administered by the University of California.
For more information about Mr. Magallanes, contact Jeanette Ramos at (760) 353-2860, ext. 21. For more information about MESA visit https://live-mesaucop.pantheonsite.io/