FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 23, 2012
Danielle McNamara
(510) 987-0230
Press Release
Tierre Mesa of Urban Promise Academy Middle School was named Teacher of the Year by the Alameda County Science and Engineering Fair this week.
The fair is designed to stimulate interest in science and technology for middle and high schools students from schools within the county. This year the fair partnered with Mathematics, Engineering, Science Achievement (MESA) to increase participation of underserved students in the county. MESA students from Claremont and Urban Promise Academy middle schools and Muhammed University developed projects for the fair, which was held March 20-22 at Chabot College in Hayward.
This is the first year for the award, which is given to a middle school and high school teacher who have been the most inspirational to students participating in the fair and encouraging them to pursue their interest in science as a career, said fair director Patti Carothers.
This is Teirre Mesa’s first year as a MESA advisor. Urban Promise and Claremont Middle are two of six Oakland Unified School District schools served through the Cal State East Bay MESA center.
“It’s so exciting to see kids being creative in a way you don’t get to see in most classrooms,” she said of both the fair and recent MESA hands-on competitions.
Through a grant from Intel, MESA students participated in the fair. Tierre helped the Urban Promise students create and test their projects, including 12-year-old Julian Castillo.
“I appreciate Ms. Tierre for helping me with my project,” the 6th grader said of his hovercraft project. “I made mistakes, but she helped me understand that mistakes are a part of science.”
MESA, an academic preparation and enrichment program, supports educationally disadvantaged students so they can become interested in math, science and engineering and earn degrees in those fields. MESA serves more than 15,000 pre-college students across the state as well as almost 6,000 community college and students in four-year institutions.
For more information about MESA visit mesa.ucop.edu