"I'm just so proud of them. To have 13, 14 year olds give this level of commitment, that's unusual, that's rare that you see that today. So that's real exciting for me and fulfilling as a teacher," said Sackrison.
MESA is a national program that promotes science and engineering to educationally disadvantaged students. In Mendota -- nearly 71 percent of students in the district are English learners. "To have a relatively small middle school in a rural community here in California win, really shows that all students can learn, all students can succeed," said O'Connell.
Francisco Torres' parents work in the fields. Thursday night, his father beamed with pride -- as he talked about Francisco's future in a better career. The ultimate goal for MESA students is a higher education, but for now, Angel Hernandez is focusing on how to improve the trebuchet for next year's competition. This year's sent an object flying just over 70 feet. "Something to make it go further… we could get farther than 80, that's one of my ideas. And to make it a better trigger to make it work better," said Hernandez.
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