A student’s senior year in high school can be expensive for parents, particularly when the student is college-bound. Parents of this year’s seniors who attended East Greene have a break, though. The East Greene class of 2014 was selected to participate in GEAR UP Iowa during its seventh grade year. The financial benefits are now being realized.
GEAR UP (Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs) is an effort to significantly increase the number of students who are ready to start and succeed in postsecondary education. It is funded by a $16.8 million federal grant administered by the Iowa College Student Aid Commission, together with the Iowa Department of Education and other agencies.
East Greene went through a rigorous application process for the program, which started during the 2008-09 school year. Eighteen Iowa school districts in which more than 50 percent of the students qualified for free or reduced meals were selected. Those students have spread out and are now in more than 150 high schools across the state. All students in the class of 2014 who attended East Greene during seventh grade remain eligible for the program, even though they no longer attend school in Grand Junction.
GEAR UP schools have opportunities for professional development for teachers and staff, career-readiness programs, financial literacy education, and more. Those efforts were carried out at East Greene while students attended there, with parent meeting and students going on GEAR UP-funded college visits as sophomores to Simpson College and Des Moines Area Community College.
According to Greene County High School guidance counselor Ruth Broman, four or five students took the PSAT last year as juniors with GEAR UP covering the cost. As students took the ACT last spring and now, this fall, GEAR UP pays. GEAR UP will also pay mileage for college visit trips up to 300 miles, and can even pay for meals.
The financial help continues. GEAR UP will cover application fees, deposits, and up to $2,600 per year in tuition if students attend schools that meet GEAR UP criteria. The scholarships are renewable for up to four years, for a total of $10,400.
Shelly Fouch, mother of East Greene senior Zach Fouch, is excited about the GEAR UP benefits. “That scholarship part, that’s just huge,” she said.
A representative from the Iowa Department of Education will be at Greene County High School next Wednesday, Nov. 13, to meet individually with GEAR UP students and their parents. Broman reminds parents to call the school at 386-2188 to make an appointment.
