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| Sally Brown’s Gear Up students at Lamar School create newsletters about themselves. |
While completing high school was once seen as the minimum educational requirement for entering the workforce, students now face increasingly competitive and specialized employment opportunities, and further education is necessary. Understanding the need to continue beyond high school may be difficult for teenagers, especially those who would be the first in their families to do so.
East Tennessee State University and the Washington County (Tennessee) School System have been awarded a United States Department of Education grant of nearly $2.8 million for a multi-year project, Gear Up, to work with county 6th and 7th graders in feeder schools for David Crockett High School, and to continue providing support through the students’ graduation from high school.
The grant is administered by ETSU’s Center for Community Outreach in collaboration with the university’s Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis. Other Gear Up partners include Northeast State Technical Community College (NSTCC), the Johnson City-Jonesborough-Washington Co. Chamber of Commerce, the Washington County Economic Development Board, Boys to Men/Girlfriends and five area churches.
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| Susan Lachmann and a Gear Up class at South Central School develop their “personal icons.” |
By working with students before they enter high school, project members hope to help the youngsters raise their educational expectations and set higher goals. All students will receive personal case management and academic support carrying them through the transition to high school.
There are many opportunities for parents to be involved in all Gear Up activities, while students will have increased opportunities for after-school activities, mentoring, tutoring, college tours and job fairs. A “College Center” in the high school will serve as the point of contact for college and university admissions officers, tutors, college students involved in service-learning projects, interns and Gear Up staff.
Washington County school personnel, led by the Director of Schools, Grant Rowland, and ETSU’s Gear Up staff implement activities designed to make students aware of the many options open to them after high school graduation and to show them the cultural and economic opportunities that exist close to home.
This spring, Tusculum College has invited the students—some 600 of them—to tour the campus, visit the museum, learn about a residence hall, and get a first-hand view of college life. NSTCC is already making plans to host the group the following year.
The town of Jonesborough has offered to partner with Gear Up to develop after-school and summer activities that enable students, parents and the staff to explore their heritage, culture and economic opportunities in the old streets, historic buildings, and current businesses of Tennessee’s oldest town. In addition, summer enrichment focusing on math mastery for seventh graders will be available at each of the schools.
Gear Up staff learned that students often have high hopes and enthusiasm in grade school, but begin to lose their optimism about the future as they progress through middle school and enter high school. Class work seems more intimidating and students interact with many teachers, diluting the close bond felt in the earlier single-classroom setting. By offering support in every area as students progress from sixth grade through high school graduation and by showing youngsters the wealth of opportunities all around them through the assistance of parents, community members and professionals, Gear Up staff members hope to open the doors to better lives for the students served by their project.
For further information about Gear Up, contact Dr. Judith Hammond, ETSU’s Assistant Vice President for Community Outreach and Family Services, at (423) 439-6062.
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