MANCHESTER, NH Terracon, a leading national engineering consulting firm with a personal and uncompromising commitment to everyone going home safe to their family each and every day, hosted McLaughlin Middle School students participating in the University of New Hampshire (UNH) Manchester's Teacher-Engineer STEM Scholar Academy (TESSA) at its Manchester office to give students a glimpse at a career in engineering.

Approximately 150 students and their teachers from the Manchester middle school were welcomed into Terracon's laboratory to participate in materials testing and structural engineering demonstrations. Students learned about soil properties and concrete strength, and observed the math and science behind four tests Terracon routinely performs. The students were divided into two sessions (morning and afternoon) and provided with lunch.

TESSA Academy was founded to promote engineering as a field of study and profession. Practicing engineers are paired with middle school math and science teachers to educate students on engineering problem-solving based on fundamental math and science principles and practices. Terracon has supported the TESSA program for two years by providing funds to the UNH Foundation and presenting informational sessions to students and teachers at the McLaughlin Middle School.

"Terracon strives to foster supportive partnerships with middle school teachers to help them implement engineering practices into their curriculum in our quest to educate and encourage today's youth to pursue a career in engineering," said Wally Shedd, Terracon's Regional Office Manager for New England. "Science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education is vital to the careers of the future, and what better way to promote these fields than with an intimate look at what life as an engineer entails."