by Caleb Fort
Daily Lobo
About 2,000 high school and middle school students from around the state came to UNM on Saturday as part of New Mexico MESA's 18th annual Math & Science Jamboree.
They participated in several competitions, including crime scene investigation, robot-building and trebuchet - a kind of catapult. Students also built vehicles powered by mousetraps.
Jorge Casillas, a high school student, said the jamboree gave him a chance to put the science he learned in class to use.
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"Most of the stuff is stuff that you learned in class," he said. "But you get to actually use it for something here."
MESA stands for Mathematics, Engineering, Science Achievement. The program is meant to help groups that are underrepresented in those fields, such as minorities and women, get experience and go to college for those careers, said Mary Herr, executive director of New Mexico MESA.
"The whole purpose of MESA is to use hands-on activities to inspire kids and get them to see the application of math, science and technology," Herr said. "So we use events, and we use field trips. We're really trying to get kids interested in these fields."
Students also built bridges out of newspaper and competed in Sudoku, a number puzzle.
The New Mexico MESA program has about 4,800 students in 100 schools. Herr said before a school can open a MESA program it has to prove that a significant number of its students are underrepresented in the fields MESA targets.
After a program opens, any student is allowed to join, she said. However, the leader of the program should recruit students so the diversity of the program reflects the diverse population of the school, Herr said.
UNM student Amanda Figueroa-Gonzales, a former MESA member who helped organize this year's jamboree, said the program inspired her to go to college and helped her succeed once she was there.
"It helped me be more focused in my math and science, and realize how important math and science is," she said. "My major is criminology, so when I take classes like forensics I feel like MESA helped me."
However, the program does more than emphasize math and science, she said.
"Overall, it teaches you how to be a leader," she said. "It teaches you how to do competition - how to stand out. How to prepare to go to college."
Herr said the University provides support to the program. Besides providing facilities such as Johnson Center and the SUB for the cost of utilities, UNM also donated $5,000, she said.
"It's critical for us to have support from the University," she said. "They make donations so that we can operate, and I think it's really important that they get some recognition for that."
Members of the program have to maintain a 2.0 GPA, Herr said. However, they also have to take college-prep courses in math, science and English every year, and must take either the ACT or the SAT, Herr said.
Rebecca Watson, a high school student at the event, said she appreciated the mission of the program.
"It's really good for us to have this," she said. "Sometimes you don't even pay attention to a book, so this helps you understand it."
