Grant Team Members Attend Washington DC Conference
(Press Release 07-31-08)
Hank Mooney, Office of Public Information

Submitted story & photo

Members of the Eastern Oklahoma State College GEAR UP for a Brighter Tomorrow team recently attended the 2008 NCCEP/GEAR UP Annual Conference—GEAR UP: Celebrating Our Past & Shaping the Future, A Decade of Excellence—in Washington, DC.

The event provided participants with an opportunity to look to the future by assessing the program’s performance, refining strategies, and infusing new practices to improve services. This is the eighth year in which NCCEP has convened the GEAR UP community for the purpose of sharing best practices, exemplary models, and effective strategies designed to expand college access and success for low–income students.

Participants attended concurrent sessions and plenary sessions. Plenary speakers included Nick Cannon, a successful rapper, writer, comedian, film star, and executive producer; James Cannon, a producer, writer and most of all a supporter father of five sons; U.S. Representative Chaka Fattah, recognized as the foremost advocate of equal educational opportunity and the author of Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs legislation; Hector Garza, founding president of the National Council for Community and Educational Partnerships (NCCEP); Fred Knops, Vice President within Booz Allen Hamilton’s US Government IT Team; Lynn Mahaffie, Director of the Teacher and Student Development Programs Service at the US Department of Education; Daniel Pink, a best–selling author of A Whole New Mind and an expert on innovation, competition, and the changing world of work; José Fernando González Sánchez, General Director of the Union and Educational Studies of America; and Vickie Schray, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Higher Education Programs at the U.S. Department of Education.

Conference attendees welcomed a surprise visitor during the morning plenary session on the second day—Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton. Senator Clinton praised GEAR UP for ten years of success in helping low–income students enroll in post–secondary education. Eighty–five percent of GEAR UP students graduate from high school as compared to the national rate of 74%, and the low–income rate of 65%. GEAR UP is making a difference!

Eastern’s GEAR UP team members attended breakout sessions including Web–Plus Tutoring: Quality Online Tutoring for GEAR UP students; Grant Fund Management—The Challenges, the Regulations, and Assessing Your System; How to Fund that Classroom Project—Teacher Professional Development Module; Effective Practices in Data Collection and Evaluation; Leveraging Technology to Track In–Kind Funds; Core Academic Support: Math, Science, and Reading Literacy; Test Preparation; Instructional Technologies; Do’s and Don’ts of Fiscal Management; Motivating Staff, Students, and Parents for Higher Achievement; My Reality Check Bounded! Six Strategies that Inspire and Prepare GEAR UP Students to Overcome BIG Obstacles to Enroll and Succeed in College; The Seven Habits of How to Study; Tell Your Students and Parents to “GET A LIFE”; Hot Discoveries about the Brain and Learning; How the Pieces Fit Together: A Complete Early College Awareness Curriculum; Mom I Love You, But Get Out of My Room! What GEAR UP Parents Need to Know and Do to Help Their Child Succeed in School, College, and Life; High School 101: 21st Century Skills for Classroom Success Today and Workplace Readiness Tomorrow; All About Achievement through Recognition: Improving conduct, Attendance, Effort & Personal Responsibility; The Power of Passionate Leadership; Using EXPLORE® and PLAN® Data to Meet the Needs of Targeted Students; HOT Project—Building Higher–Order Thinking Skills; Documentation the GEAR UP Match; Making Your Mark—The APR Process; The Key to Shaping the Future: Community Partners Engaging, Exciting, and Empowering GEAR UP Students and Families; Breaking Down Barriers to Effective Parental Involvement; Working Together with Schools: Building an Environment for Project Success; Enhancing Community Relations for Program Sustainability, Growth, and Expansion; Engaging-------; ACT and The Princeton Review; My Last Nerve!

“The conference was a celebration of GEAR UP,” said Eastern GEAR UP Project Director Linda Morgan. “There were over 1,800 GEAR UP grantees from across the nation in attendance. The workshops, the networking, the vendors—it was all wonderful!”

Eastern Oklahoma State College received a $6.7 million federal GEAR UP grant and is beginning the third year of implementation. Eastern has partnered with 23 area schools to provide students with additional educational opportunities.

GEAR UP for a Brighter Tomorrow team members attending were Project Director Linda Morgan; Education Coordinator Dara Ward; Education Coordinator Lori Roberts; and Web/Computer Tech Specialist George Larson.

Caption info: 
GEAR UP for a Brighter Tomorrow team members attending the national conference include from left: Web/Computer Tech Specialist George Larson, Project Director Linda Morgan, Education Coordinator Lori Roberts and Education Coordinator Dara Ward.