Every year at Panda Express MESA Day Preliminaries (Pre MESA Day), a variety of STEM competitions are hosted at the University of Southern California. These competitions give middle and high school students the opportunity to work on unique projects that nurture their STEM skills and build their STEM confidence.
On March 12, 2022, Pre MESA Day hosted twenty-five middle and high schools with over 200 students competing in three in-person competitions and over 250 students competing in five virtual competitions. The hybrid format made for record participation numbers, and the MESA team at USC could not have been more thrilled.
“Pre MESA Day is an incredible opportunity for students to lay down the bricks that build their path to STEM careers as adults,” said Alexandra Gutierrez, USC MESA’s Academic Coordinator. “I still have former students who reach out to say thank you and reminisce about their Pre MESA Day at USC.”
Some of this year’s competitions included building a cargo glider, solving coding problems, a math escape challenge, and even an opportunity to design equity solutions for student communities.
Pre MESA Day is programming that is part of the larger MESA, or Math, Engineering and Science Achievement, initiative that helps underserved and underrepresented students in California achieve success in STEM studies and careers. USC has hosted a chapter of the program for over forty years and has seen enrollment grow each year.
The Los Angeles Pre MESA Day community thanks longtime partner Panda Express who has sponsored the local competition since 2000, as well as Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) for their sponsorship this year.
Published on April 29th, 2022
Last updated on April 29th, 2022