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Among the many MESA graduates now teaching at California K–12 and postsecondary institutions throughout the state is 13-year math instructor and former MESA Advisor Jose Poveda, a graduate of CSU Fullerton and UC Irvine who is now teaching advanced math courses at Costa Mesa High School (Orange County), where half of all students participate in a free or reduced-price lunch program. A MESA student while attending Samuel FB Morse High School in San Diego (class of 1987) and in the program’s formative stages at UC Irvine, Poveda said his experience with MESA was the single most important influence in his ultimately becoming a math teacher. “I would not have become a teacher had it not been for MESA,” said Poveda. “Without MESA, I would not have gone to college at all.” Poveda previously taught at Century High School in Santa Ana, where he served as chair of the math department while participating in MESA. “Jose is one of the most dedicated, caring and effective math teachers you will ever meet,” said Fred Navarro, director of secondary curriculum and instruction at the Newport/Mesa Unified School District. Navarro was Poveda’s administrator at Costa Mesa for two years. “No one does it better.” Navarro said Poveda’s effectiveness as a teacher was demonstrated last year when he reduced the time it took his students to complete the school’s accelerated math curriculum from three semesters to two. “Jose has been able to significantly raise the academic performance of his students, who traditionally have a very hard time learning math.” “He had a passion and he understood the program because he had gone through it as a student,” said CSU Fullerton MESA Center Director Vonna Hammerschmitt, who worked with Poveda for eight years. “He always had very high benchmarks for his students, and he made sure they met those benchmarks.” “Before I had Mr. Poveda, I was terrible at math and had to repeat a lot of courses,” said former student Erika Uribe, a MESA graduate now attending CSU Long Beach. “As soon as I was in his class, that totally changed. He got us really engaged and made it fun. He expected a lot from us because he knew we could do it. He definitely influenced my decision to go to college.” For Poveda, working hard to ensure his students succeed is simply his way of returning a favor. “My memories of having a great MESA teacher who took me to the MESA Day competitions and pushed me hard to excel stayed with me, and made me feel the need to give back by doing the same for my students.” As teacher of a wide range of math courses (including Advanced Placement Calculus), and chosen by UC Irvine to serve as a leader to his fellow teachers, Poveda’s talent and expertise are in high demand. The National Science Foundation recently reported that in national comparisons of eighth graders, California scored last in the country in sciences and seventh-from-the-bottom in mathematics. In 2002–03, nearly 1,500 math and 800 science classes in California high schools were taught by teachers with no teaching credentials, according to a recent report on the state’s teacher workforce by the Center for the Future of Teaching and Learning (CFTL). Even more classes were taught by teachers with a degree in an unrelated subject area. Most underprepared teachers are concentrated in schools in economically disadvantaged communities, states the CFTL report, where student test scores lag well behind state averages. Within the next decade, more than one-third of the state’s math and science teachers will retire and the number of new high school freshmen is expected to grow. “A strong supply of science, engineering and technology graduates is necessary to keep California competitive in the global economy,” said MESA Executive Director Michael Aldaco. “Without highly qualified teachers at the K–12 level, that supply is at risk. In addition to equipping today’s educators with professional development opportunities, MESA acts as a catalyst in the creation of new teachers by sparking young students’ interest to pursue math and science in the first place.” Poveda said California’s teacher shortage is real and very serious. “We have to have higher expectations of what students must learn, beginning at the elementary level,” he said. “Teachers are skimming the surface, and once students get behind, they don't catch up.” MESA’s teacher training program, which instructs K–12 educators in the delivery of the MESA hands- on math/science curriculum, has reached more than 4,000 instructors since the program began in 1985. In addition, hundreds of MESA-trained teachers every year receive professional development opportunities that allow them to earn academic credits for their work.
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