The GEAR UP program, which is an acronym for Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs is excited to be extending their program to accommodate eligible high school freshman and sophomores.

“Students in ninth and tenth grade in Carbon and Emery counties will be able to apply for GEAR UP and be in our GEAR UP program, then we’re also continuing our GEAR UP applications for juniors,” stated Director, Linda Hapsmith. The program’s goal is to increase college awareness for low-income students, assist them in developing the skills and preparation necessary to pursue education after high school. Applications may be found at http://usueastern.edu/price/gearup/about/index or through the school’s counseling office.

Once students have been determined eligible for the program they can begin to receive services such as tutoring, mentoring, educational planning, career counseling, ACT tutoring, college awareness, after school/summer activities, family workshops and college visits.

Students in the program are scheduled to take a trip to Salt Lake City on March 1 to enjoy a few campus tours. “We are taking a tour of Broadcast House over at the University of Utah, which houses the radio and television broadcasting programs there. Then at Salt Lake Community College we’re going to be looking at their geological and geographic information systems, which is very computer oriented, as well dealing with geography and geology,” stated Hapsmith. It is through the program that the transportation to colleges are free of charge, including the expense of lunch and a snack for participating students.

GEAR UP works closely with the USU Eastern Leadership program which ends its application deadline on Thursday, March 1. “From that, they will attend a Leadership Summit or workshop, which is a day long workshop. They can apply for a number of scholarships and campus jobs on campus for the following year,” stated Hapsmith. This is a wonderful opportunity for students to get involved with the activities happening on campus and GEAR UP officials strongly encourage their students to apply. It is through this very program that GEAR UP plans to hire their peer mentor for the 2018-2019 school year. This mentor works closely with GEAR UP college freshman to support their transition to college life.

It is a busy time for high school seniors, along with their advisors at each of the high schools. They are working tirelessly to get the necessary financial aid forms submitted to their college of choice. If there are any GEAR UP seniors who have not started this process will need to get in contact with their advisor at their high school immediately.

To keep up on what is going at GEAR UP visit their Facebook page.