SAN MARCOS: College-prep program brings career fair to San Marcos Middle School
By GARY WARTH gwarth@nctimes.com North County Times
March 24, 2012 1:00 pm
San Marcos Middle School students participating in a program to prepare them for college got some lessons Friday about jobs that may await them when they finally graduate.
Professionals in fields that ranged from hairstyling to law enforcement visited the middle school for a daylong career fair. Careers represented also included social work, law, chiropractic, university research, real estate, counseling and business.
“It was fun,” said seventh-grader Austin Fullerton after talking with sheriff’s deputies about the career he hopes to pursue. “I learned it takes a lot of practice and responsibilities to be a cop. You have to go to about four years of college and keep going to the academy to learn about new laws.”
Austin and other students at the school are in GEAR UP —— Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs —— a federally funded program to help students from low-income areas prepare for and succeed in college.
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ESCONDIDO: GEAR UP holds kickoff ceremony to encourage students to attend college
By GARY WARTH gwarth@nctimes.com North County Times
Posted: Wednesday, February 1, 2012 6:00 pm
Students at Mission Middle School in Escondido got fired up about GEAR UP Wednesday morning in a kickoff ceremony celebrating the federal program’s arrival in four local schools.
Palomar College received a $17.5 million federal grant late last year to bring GEAR UP —— or Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs —— to select schools in Escondido and San Marcos to help students enter and be successful in college.
“I want to go to college!” hundreds of students chanted at Mission Middle School on Wednesday morning as they were led by GEAR UP employee Charles Iyoho, who later performed an original song called “Dreaming.”
GEAR UP’s mission is to create opportunities for low-income students to attend college, and Palomar College President Robert Deegan told Mission Middle School students that he was an example of how financial difficulties do not have to hold back goals of higher education.
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REGION: Career training a part of curriculum in North County schools
By GARY WARTH gwarth@nctimes.com North County Times
Posted: Sunday, March 18, 2012 6:00 pm
As politicians this year question whether too much emphasis is being placed on the pursuit of a college degree, local educators say they already are providing educational options for students with no interest in attending a university for four years.
“In my opinion, the purpose of schools is to prepare children for the workforce, and we want them to be successful in any career they pursue,” said Kevin Thompson, a teacher on special assignment at El Camino High in Oceanside, where he oversees a program helping students pursue a career in the energy industry. “At the high school level, we have such an opportunity to expose kids to careers they might not even know exist.”
In North County, educators in several school districts say there is greater emphasis these days on offering students options that include vocational training, also known as career technical education.
The argument that college is not for everybody was raised earlier this year by Republican presidential hopeful Rick Santorum, who called President Barack Obama a “snob” for saying everybody in America should go to college.
Obama did ask every American to commit to at least one year or more of higher education in 2009, but the president also said that commitment could include vocational training, an apprenticeship or community college.
The assumption that encouraging students to attend college means they must pursue a four-year degree is a common misunderstanding of GEAR UP —— Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs —— said Calvin One Deer Gavin, who runs the program at Palomar College.
“I realize that not everybody can, and not everybody will, go to college,” he said. “I just believe every student should have the choice. But they don’t have the choice if they’re not prepared.”
GEAR UP works with specific populations of low-income students, providing parent workshops, tutoring, after-school programs and field trips to college over several years.
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NORTH COUNTY: Call to cut Education Department gets mixed reaction from educators
By GARY WARTH | Posted: Saturday, December 3, 2011 7:00 pm
When presidential candidate Rick Perry called for the elimination of the federal Department of Education in a debate last month, teacher Jim Groth did not bat an eye.
“I think it comes up every four years during presidential elections,” said Groth, a Chula Vista math teacher who is one of two San Diego County representatives on the California Teachers Association board.
Perry’s call to eliminate the department was overshadowed by a now-famous mental slip in which he forgot the third of three departments he said he would cut. He later said he would cut the departments of Commerce, Education and Energy.
The Department of Education was created by President Jimmy Carter in 1980 by combining offices from several federal agencies. According to the department’s website, the agency’s official task is to establish policies on financial aid for education and distribute and monitor the funds. It also collects data on schools and disseminates the research, focuses national attention on key educational issues, prohibits discrimination and ensures equal access to education.
(Click below to read comments from Calvin One Deer Gavin, GEAR UP Director @ Palomar College)
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