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Dear Parent or Guardian,

Welcome to the Youngker High School and Arizona GEAR UP 5E Partnership. Together, we will work hard to help your child plan for life after high school and open doors to post-secondary opportunities.

What is GEAR UP?

GEAR UP stands for Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs. We select high schools and provide FREE services to students and their families to develop plans based on the 5E’s of Equity, which engage, empower, elevate and enrich students and help them achieve success after high school, whether it’s a 4-year university, community college, technical school, or other career option. GEAR UP believes every student deserves educational opportunities after high school, and every student and family should receive information to pursue all opportunities.

What services does GEAR UP provide?

At Youngker High School, GEAR UP provides Coaches, which help GEAR UP students succeed. They support students academically with things like mentoring, tutoring, study skills workshops and summer enrichment programs on college campuses. They also provide opportunities for students to learn about colleges and technical schools through college visits, career fairs, workshops, etc. The best part is Coaches will be in the school every day to support students and arrange for services and activities in each grade level, 9th – 12th.

One of GEAR UP’s signature services is our Postsecondary Education Planning Session (PEPS). Coaches meet individually with students to help them discover and discuss their career interests, and then learn what it takes to achieve these goals. PEPS is closely coordinated with ECAP (Education and Career Action Planning), which is a similar process students go through at school to make sure they’re taking the right courses to reach their future goals.

Although schools are closed for the remainder of this school year, GEAR UP is still providing support to students. Later this month, GEAR UP will mail each Senior a Senior Launch Guide, and it’s also online at https://azgu.info/srguide. The Senior Launch Guide provides a resource to help students through the steps required senior year to successfully launch into life after graduation. The guide includes easy checklists for students based on their plans after high school, whether that is a 4-year university, 2+2 transfer plan, community college, technical school, military, or workforce. The guide also includes help completing the FAFSA, applying for scholarships and jobs, selecting and applying to colleges, and much more.
We’re also excited about our partnership with Student Success Agency (SSA). As your student finishes up 11th and 12th grade, they can sign-up for support from SSA for free. SSA provides one-on-one support to students in the way of an “Agent.” The “Agent” provides wisdom, support, and guidance during the student’s senior year and through the first year of college. Your high school will be emailing and posting information about how your child can learn about SSA.

How can families get involved in GEAR UP?

GEAR UP plans events for families and students to learn what it takes to achieve high school goals and plan for the future. GEAR UP arranges family activities at convenient times so please check out upcoming GEAR UP communications to save the dates.
GEAR UP wants to hear from you about your child’s progress, and we always want to know ways we can improve our programming. We are all part of a team dedicated to your child’s success. Please contact us with any questions or if you need more information: phone, 602.776.4632;email, gear.up@nau.edu or yesta.ealy@nau.edu.

Respectfully,

Yesta D. Ealy,
Schools Project Director, Arizona GEAR UP

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