A mousetrap car, a bridge made out of popsickle sticks and a model of a gastrointestinal tract.

Those are just a few of the engineering projects students at Rafer Johnson Junior High presented in a competition this past weekend on the campus of California State University, Fresno.

Two of the students, eighth-graders Rachel Muradian and Lydia Dawson, created a model of a GI tract made from common household items. They did such a good job with it that they were awarded second place.

Now they get to go to a regional competition in Santa Barbara on April 25.

They didn't just impress judges either. Staff at Rafer Johnson were also in awe.

"It's amazing to look at," said Principal Laurie Goodman.

The projects were made for fun, not for a grade.

Muradian and Dawson are members of Rafer Johnson Junior High's Math Engineering Science Achievement (MESA) club -- a program that teaches students the importance and real life application of math, science and engineering through hands-on activities and competitions.

The club has existed for three years at Rafer Johnson and the organization was officially created in 1970 at a high school site in Berkeley.

But during Saturday's competition in Fresno, Muradian and Dawson were aready planning to go to Santa Barbara for the regional MESA day competition. Several weeks ago, they took a team-based algebra test which qualified them to compete at the regional event.

Seventh-grader Lydia Wildes is also a member of the club at Rafer Johnson. She too, took a math test a few weeks ago, but it was pre-algebra instead of algebra.

"We got first and I was so happy," she said.

Wildes and two of her classmates -- seventh graders Sam Dawson and Bradley Haga -- also qualified to go to Santa Barbara.

On Saturday in Fresno, Wildes presented what's called her "EggXpress" project. She's spent the last few weeks designing and building the contraption, essentially a container that holds eggs.

During the competition, Wildes' container was dropped from a specific height. The point of the activity was to not only have the containers hold the largest number of eggs, but to have the majority of those eggs survive impact with the ground.

Although her "EggXpress" project didn't win in Saturday's competition, Wildes said she enjoys MESA and feels like it offers a lot.

"It's really fun," she said. "You get to meet other people and basically like, sometimes let your mind explode."

MESA also doesn't just serve middle schoool students.

It's found in high schools, community colleges and universities across California.

Several universities and community colleges in the state are designated MESA school sites and CSU-Fresno became a partner in the program in 1980. In all, 22 high schools and middle schools in the area have MESA programs, according to Louie Lopez, director of the MESA schools program at CSU-Fresno.

The majority of funding for MESA comes from the state legislature, under a line item called Student Academic Preparation and Educational Partnerships, Lopez said. This last fiscal year, the program at CSU-Fresno recieved $210,000 from the state.

In his view, Lopez said he hopes MESA not only gets students interested in the academic subjects, but "that when it's time for them to turn over from senior in high school to college, that they pursue majors in some of those related fields."

In their view, staff at Rafer Johnson also find the after-school club worthwhile.

"It's setting them up to be very sucessfull in high school and very successful in college," said Principal Laurie Goodman. "And I'm excited about what it brings them."

Janet Johnson, an alegbra teacher at Rafer Johnson and one of the MESA club coordinators, also thinks it's an activity that serves students well.

"It really just sparks their curiousity and interest in things about engineering," she said. "That's why I think it's important."

The MESA Regional Competition is on the campus of University of California, Santa Barbara on April 25.

For more information, visit http://mesa.csufresno.edu/index.shtml.