Middle school students GEAR Up for college

When you’re growing up, playing organized sports, spending weekends with friends and having fun, high school graduation seems a long way off.

As one grows older, one realizes how quickly those years actually pass. For middle school students, adulthood is really just around the corner.

This fall, the Wahkiakum School District announced the award of a $36,000 grant meant to help the district prepare young students for college and careers.

GEAR UP stands for Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs. The grant program is a partnership of the Higher Education Coordinating Board, Office of the Governor, the University of Washington, College Success Foundation, and a number of national, state and local organizations. It focuses on an entire cohort of students from low income and underserved communities.

“The point is for students to start planning for college early,” said Darla Mead who teaches for the Wahkiakum School District and is part of the school’s “GEAR UP Team.”

“The class of 2011 finished with the GEAR UP grant," she said. "We worked with them from freshman year on. This year, we started working with the seventh graders. We’ll follow them all the way up through graduation.”

The premise behind GEAR UP is that young people who start planning in middle school have a better chance of entering college and completing their degrees.

Led by Cindy Fudge, Cheryl Parker and Mead, the GEAR UP team has been working with JC Thomas seventh grade students guiding them through the very first years of college preparation. GEAR UP programs ensure that they have access to the people and the information needed to graduate from high school and go to college.

“We’ve had speakers come to talk to us about college,” said student Tawni Felton.

“GEAR UP takes us on different field trips and we learn things about college,” Kristy Goldinov said.

Thomas students are listening to speakers, touring college campuses, venturing out for field trips and participating in career planning.

“They’re seeing that the choices that they make in middle school really do matter,” Mead said. “In high school they’ll have more freedom and choices. The decisions that they make can have a big impact on their futures.”