GEAR UP Works!

Kentucky GEAR UP graduate to be featured speaker at NYC workshop

Press Release Date: Friday, February 10, 2012
Contact Information: Sue Patrick
502-573-1555
Cell: 502-330-6596
Sue.Patrick@ky.gov  

As a freshman at Elliott County High School in eastern Kentucky, Joshua (Josh) Sparks never envisioned that he would someday emerge as a national speaker. Sparks, a graduate of Eastern Kentucky University with four college majors in mathematics, sociology, statistics and cultural studies, will be the featured speaker at a national conference expected to attract more than 1,100 educators and college access professionals to New York City on February 14.

The 2012 GEAR UP/NCCEP Capacity-Building Workshop is designed and coordinated by the National Council for Community and Education Partnerships (NCCEP) and planned in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Education for the GEAR UP (Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs) program.

“Through GEAR UP, I had a chance to understand what college is all about, what it takes to get there, and why it is important,” said Sparks, who is currently pursuing a master’s degree in statistics at The George Washington University in Washington, D.C.

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ENMU-Roswell Hosts Free GEAR UP Scholarship Dinners

February 29, 2012
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Donna Oracion, 624-7404

ENMU-Roswell is urging 2012 public school graduates in Chaves County to take advantage of the GEAR UP (Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs) scholarship to help pay for their college education. GEAR UP Scholarships are available to 2012 graduates of Dexter High School, Goddard High School, Hagerman High School, Lake Arthur High School and Roswell High School who were enrolled during the 2010-2011 academic year. ENMU-Roswell officials say this is a once in a lifetime opportunity for local high school graduates. A series of free informational dinner meetings are scheduled for March and April. Parents and students are invited to attend to learn more about the GEAR UP scholarship and ask questions.

Students and parents at Dexter High School are invited to a dinner on Tuesday, March 6 at 6 p.m. in the Dexter High School cafeteria.  Students and parents at Lake Arthur High School are invited to a dinner on Thursday, March 8 at 6:30 p.m. in the Lake Arthur High School cafeteria.  Students and parents at Hagerman High School are invited to a dinner on Wednesday, April 4 at 6 p.m. in the Hagerman High School commons area.  Students and parents at Goddard High School are invited to a dinner on Monday, April 9 at 6 p.m. in the Goddard High School cafeteria. Students and parents at Roswell High School are invited to a dinner on Thursday, April 12 at 6p.m. in the Roswell High School commons area. 

Attending Eastern New Mexico University-Roswell is free for GEAR UP students, but the scholarship can also be used at any degree granting institution in the U.S. To obtain the scholarship award, graduates must take their original high school transcript, their birth certificate, and a class schedule or bill from the college they will attend, in addition to the Scholarship Acceptance form, to the ENMU-Roswell Financial Aid office. Priority status will be given to students who submit their information by August 1.  The form is on the ENMU-Roswell web site, www.roswell.enmu.edu  Click on the GEAR UP slide from the home page.

Graduates can also call 624-7294 to speak with an advisor and get registered as a GEAR UP student for the upcoming fall semester at ENMU-Roswell. Call the Financial Aid office at 624-7039 to ask questions about the GEAR UP scholarship. GEAR UP is federally funded by the United States Department of Education and sponsored by ENMU-Roswell.

Teacher uses T-shirts to encourage young people to pursue college

BY MONICA RODRIGUEZ, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin
Posted on: 02/21/2012 12:00:38 PM PST

RANCHO CUCAMONGA - Justin Robinson was tutoring students at Garey High School in Pomona about two years ago when he began to take note of their interests.

Students had long lists that included sports and music, but there were instances when something was conspicuously missing.

“I noticed kids had a lack of interest about going to college,” said Robinson.

The discovery troubled Robinson but it also became a force behind his idea to design a line of T-shirts bearing motivational slogans meant to inspire youths to think of and pursue a college education.

Robinson, a resident of Rancho Cucamonga who is now a substitute teacher at Cathedral High School in Los Angeles, encouraged the teens he worked with, explaining the need for a college education.

Jobs that many adults have today will not exist in years to come as automation and technology becomes better, he said.

“I tried to tell them if you don’t have (a college education), you will be left behind,” Robinson said.

But that wasn’t the end of things. Robinson approached his mother with his concern.

Robinson’s mother, Angela, is a parent involvement coordinator in Pomona Unified’s GEAR UP project, which uses mentoring and academic support to help students graduate from high school and continue their educations.

Angela Robinson told her son the stories of two women who had run across people who tried to discourage them from pursuing their college dreams.

One of those women was Thelma Melendez de Santa Ana, former Pomona Unified superintendent.

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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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GEAR UP Week Celebrations Are Gearing Up Everywhere #NGUW11

WASHINGTON, DC /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ — In Prince Georges County Maryland, schools are conducting workshops this week to inform parents of the college-going prospects of students enrolled in the GEAR UP college readiness program, and provide suggestions on how parents can assist every child to achieve success in post-secondary education.

In Puerto Rico, GEAR UP students are writing on the walls - Dream Walls - filling poster-size sheets with their goals for higher education and life beyond high school.

At Laramie County Community College in Wyoming, and in schools across California, students are writing thank-you letters to Members of Congress for keeping GEAR UP alive and well in their communities and across the nation.

It’s all in celebration of National GEAR UP Week, Oct. 24 to 28, marking the success and the future prospects of Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs. GEAR UP, created by Congressman Chaka Fattah (D-PA) more than a decade ago, prepares low-income and underserved students from sixth to 12th grades for the challenge and importance of education beyond high school graduation.

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Kicking Off National GEAR UP Week #NGUW11

This week is National GEAR UP Week, an event highlighting the positive impact that GEAR UP (Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs), has had on students, families, schools, and communities since Congress authorized the program thirteen years ago. GEAR UP provides six-year grants to states and partnerships to increase the number of low-income students who are prepared to enter and succeed in postsecondary education.

In Chicago, the Freshman Connection program is a great example of a successful GEAR UP partnership grant program in action. The program, sponsored by Northeastern Illinois University and Chicago Public Schools, is free and held during the summer at high schools across the city for rising ninth grade students to prepare them for the rigors of a high school education. In the span of a month, students make new friends, take field trips, meet teachers and counselors, learn graduation requirements, get ready for classes, and explore college and careers.

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Grant to help college-bound New Bedford students

By Charis Anderson

The state has received a $5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education to support a program focused on helping low-income students prepare for college.

The program operates in 16 schools across the state, including New Bedford High School and Normandin Middle School.

The initiative, known as Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs, or GEAR UP, not only provides college preparation and access services to middle and high school students in seven high-poverty communities but also provides scholarship assistance to students who go on to college.

“This program and others like it are instrumental in helping us provide students with the tools they need to succeed in higher education and beyond,” state Education Secretary Paul Reville said in a statement.

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