FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 29, 2012
Danielle McNamara
(510) 987-0230
Press Release
Dave Sackrison, a teacher at Mendota Junior High School, received the Middle School Advisor of the Year Award from a statewide math and science program.
Mathematics, Engineering, Science Achievement (MESA) honored Sackrison for his outstanding work in assisting educationally disadvantaged students to excel in math and science. Sackrison was selected from among MESA teachers representing more than 140 middle schools in California. Sackrison has been a MESA advisor for six years.
The MESA program at Mendota Junior High School is coordinated by the MESA Schools Program at California State University Fresno’s Lyles College of Engineering.
“Dave freely gives his time after school and on weekends to accommodate his MESA students’ busy schedules and demands from home,” said Fresno MESA director Kristen McCoy. “Under Dave’s tutelage, Mendota students have consistently represented their school well at all MESA events.”
Sixty-nine percent of Mendota’s students are Latino; 86 percent participate in the free/reduced price meal program and 72 percent are English language learners.
MESA is an academic preparation program that serves more than 21,000 California pre-college, community college and university students who are educationally disadvantaged. Seventy-four percent of MESA high school students go to college after graduation compared to 41 percent of all California students. Sixty percent of MESA high school graduates go on to college as math, engineering or science majors.
For more information about Sackrison, contact Kristin McCoy at krmccoy@csufresno.edu or 559-278-2976. For more information about MESA visit mesa.ucop.edu.