June 25, 2004
GEAR UP helps student plan for, succeed in higher ed
About 1,000 middle and high school students from across the state will be spending a week this summer at the University of Washington, taking courses designed and taught by UW faculty, as part of a program to help them plan for a college education. The University of Washington State GEAR UP Project is designed to serve students from lower income communities.
The purpose of the program is to expose students to life on a college campus, including residential life. Students will be staying in residential halls, eating in school cafeterias, and going to seminars and a variety of college awareness activities (including information about admissions and financial aid) each day.
Students are assigned to teams, which are led by UW student mentors, many of who come from communities or backgrounds similar to the visiting students.
Another GEAR UP initiative, the Collaborative for Instructional Development, will also host 50 middle and high schools teachers from GEAR UP schools around the state of Washington for professional development workshops. There will be two workshops, offered under the general theme “Fostering Critical Thinking and Literacy Across the Curriculum.” The first workshop is entitled “Math and Science Literacy” and will be offered June 28 through July 2. The second workshop is entitled “Exploring Interdisciplinary Teaching and Learning” and will be offered July 12 through July 16. During the workshops, teachers will work in teams, and will be guided in their work by team coaches. Teachers who participate in the workshops will have follow-up activities facilitated by their coaches during the academic year 2004-05, culminating with a conference in Spring 2005 where they will make presentations about their use of new information and instructional techniques.
Each group of students spends one week on the UW campus. There are five sessions occurring over five weeks. The dates are June 21-24, June 28-July 1, July 12-15, August 2-6, and August 9-13.
Each week-long experience culminates in a celebratory luncheon. This year’s luncheons are sponsored by Washington Mutual. Gov. Gary Locke will speak at the July 15 luncheon.
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For more information, contact Tracy Shanker, Administrative Coordinator, UW State GEAR UP Project, 206-221-6495.
