140 Eighth Graders get a Head Start through Mike Hauser Algebra Academy

Participation more than doubles as program expands in Santa Rosa, launches in Healdsburg

140 area students from Santa Rosa and Healdsburg graduated from the Mike Hauser Algebra Academy, a program of the Santa Rosa Chamber of Commerce, on Thursday, June 26, at 11:30 am in a ceremony on the Analy Lawn of Santa Rosa Junior College.

This year’s Algebra Academy expanded enrollment from 60 to 140 area English Language Learner (ELL) students entering the eighth or ninth grade in the fall, including 30 students in the Healdsburg area – to date the program has only served Santa Rosa schools.

“The ultimate goal is to reach 300 students, or 25% of Sonoma County’s ELL eighth graders, each summer,” said Jonathan Coe, President/CEO of the Santa Rosa Chamber of Commerce. “If we can do that, then we have a real chance at moving the needle and improving graduation rates.”

“We are pleased to partner with the Santa Rosa Chamber of Commerce to bring such a worthy program to our community,” said Jennifer LeBrett, Business & Membership Development Director at the Healdsburg Chamber of Commerce & Visitors Bureau. “The Algebra Academy brings real-world math concepts to our ELL students helping to connect the classroom with careers for our future workforce. Our business community has really stepped up to help make this program possible.”

The Algebra Academy is a three week program held at area businesses where students learn algebra standards and their application to high-tech real-world situations, interview employees, and participate in activities related to each host business.

An increase in the program’s student participants also required an increase in the number of businesses to host the program. In Santa Rosa, Agilent Technologies, JDSU, Medtronic, and Pacific Gas & Electric were returning hosts while Deposition Sciences, TLCD Architecture, and the City of Santa Rosa Utilities Department were first time hosts. The program also saw new business hosts in Healdsburg that included Costeaux French Bakery, EandM Electric & Machinery, Max Machinery, Max Process Equipment, Métier, and Sonoma Millworks, as well as the City of Healdsburg’s Municipal Airport and Fire Department.

“The Mike Hauser Algebra Academy is a great example of what collaboration between local businesses and education can do,” said Fred Van Milligen, Vice President of Research and Development at JDSU and Chair of the Santa Rosa Chamber’s Workforce Development division. “This is the seventh year the program has been held, with two clear goals in mind: 1) support ESL students in graduating from high school, and 2) encourage them to consider a path that leads through college to a career in technology. It is a program that JDSU is very proud to support and that I have felt honored to be part of from its inception.”

Launched in 2007, the Algebra Academy was the vision of the late Mike Hauser, former CEO of the Santa Rosa Chamber of Commerce. He understood the importance of ensuring an educated and trained workforce for the businesses in Santa Rosa and realized that, if we fail to increase the graduation rates of students for whom English is a second language, we will lose their talents and any real hope of maintaining and growing our workforce.

Since one of the key precursors for high school graduation is mastery of algebra, he reasoned that giving students for whom English is a second language a head start with a summer program that combined algebra with real world experience in local companies would help us improve that graduation rate.

Programs such as the Mike Hauser Algebra Academy exemplify the Chamber’s ongoing commitment to workforce development and its importance for our member businesses. Our business community’s future success is dependent on the workers’ skills, and the Algebra Academy is one means for the Chamber to directly and dramatically improve the skills of our future workforce.

(also see the articles in The Press Democrat and The Healdsburg Tribune)