Top high school seniors who have participated in MESA will receive $1,000 scholarships funded by Wells Fargo.
Media Contact:
Christina Ramos, SJSU MESA Schools Program Director, (408) 924-3837
SAN JOSE, CA – The MESA Schools Program at San Jose State University received $10,000 from the Wells Fargo Foundation – Silicon Valley to support educationally disadvantaged students who are pursuing college careers in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM).
The 2011 graduating MESA students from surrounding school districts within the Silicon Valley that have maintained a 3.0 or higher GPA, completed A-G college curriculum requirements, and participated in MESA’s rigorously academic activities throughout their pre-college careers will be honored May 10 at the Santa Clara Marriott. Thanks to the generous donation made by Wells Fargo, students will also receive $1,000 scholarships to go toward their college education.
The event begins with a welcome from MESA Schools Program Director Christina Ramos and a keynote from a distinguished speaker, Chief of Staff, NASA Ames Research Center – Moffett Field, Karen C. Bradford. Bradford began her work with NASA as executive assistant to the director of the NASA Astrobiology Institute, where she helped plan, implement, and serve as project lead for the first NAI Minority Institution Faculty Sabbatical and Secretary for the Federation of Astrobiology Organizations. She has been a civil servant for 23 years and is a member of the National Coalition of 100 Black Women Silicon Valley Chapter, where she currently serves as 2nd vice president and membership committee chair.
In addition to Bradford being the keynote speaker, both NASA Hispanic Advisory Council of Employees and African American Advisory Group will be supporting the top five students with educational stipends and/or summer internships to help MESA students get ahead in their career experience.
“It is so rewarding to celebrate the accomplishments of the MESA students and graduates every year” said MESA Schools Program Director Christina Ramos. “To have these students recognized by industry, and to see our community and partners then come together support our MESA students in their journey ahead shows just how exceptional MESA student are. We look forward to continuing our relationship with Wells Fargo and NASA, so our future graduates can see that they too will be supported.”
The MESA Schools Program at San Jose State partners and supporters include: EMC², Cisco Systems, Google, Wells Fargo, General Electric, IBM, Intel, AMD, NASA, Pacific Bay Capitol Group, The Tech Museum, Santa Clara Valley Water District, the Society of Mexican American Engineers & Scientists, The Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers of Silicon Valley, Applied Materials, San Jose State University, SJSU College of Science, SJSU MESA Engineering Program, SJSU campus organizations, and community partners.
The SJSU MESA Schools Program is designed to prepare and motivate educationally disadvantaged students to successfully pursue college-preparatory coursework and promote careers in math and science, while developing their pre-professional and leadership skills.
MESA, an academic preparation program that serves 20,249 California pre-college, community college and university students who are educationally disadvantaged, is an awarding winning model with a high success rate. Seventy percent of MESA high school graduates statewide went directly to college after graduation compared to 48 percent of all California graduates. Sixty percent of MESA students go on as math, science or engineering majors.