National GEAR UP Day celebrates student success

TOPPENISH -- Today is the first National GEAR UP Day.

It's also the 10th anniversary of the college-access program, which aims to make higher education a reality for low-income students in underserved communities throughout the country.

GEAR UP -- formally called Gaining Early Awareness and Education for Undergraduate Programs -- prepares students for college through financial workshops, career fairs, campus visits, tutoring, mentoring and summer enrichment programs, as well as other activities for students and parents.

"Across the nation, they're celebrating," says Loueta Johnson, director of the University of Washington GEAR UP chapter.

About 1.5 million students participate in the program nationwide. Statewide, there are more than 33,000 students involved in GEAR UP programs. Locally, the University of Washington GEAR UP program has been serving students in Valley schools since the program's inception in 1999.

Housed at the Office of Minority Affairs and Diversity, the program -- one of the first in the country -- started with eight schools or school districts: Granger, Grandview, Mabton, Mt. Adams, Sunnyside, Toppenish, Zillah and Yakama Nation Tribal School.

It served nearly 12,000 students in its first six years, and more than 78 percent of them continued on to post-secondary education.

One of them was Lupe Ochoa, who turns 22 on Sunday. She got involved in the UW GEAR UP in its first year in the Valley when she was in sixth grade.

Now, the 2006 Sunnyside High School graduate is a junior at Heritage University in Toppenish. She also works part time as a program assistant for the GEAR UP program that helped her become college-bound.

"My parents never really talked to me about college because they never went to college. They didn't even get their high school diploma," Ochoa says. "GEAR UP led me towards college and helping me decide what to major in."

Ochoa is working on a degree in business with a minor in human resources.

"I'm looking to maybe own my own business someday," she says.

Two additional grants -- in 2005 and 2006 -- allowed the UW GEAR UP program to expand to Goldendale, Wapato, East Valley and Union Gap as well as two school districts on the west side of the state: Mount Vernon and Burlington Edison. Nearly 6,000 students are now involved.

About half of them come from families in which the parents don't speak fluent English. And 78 percent of them come from families whose income is at -- or just above -- poverty level. Many of the parents of students in the program didn't attend college themselves, and some of them didn't complete high school.

Things can be different for their children.

"We have been helping thousands of students move through the system into college," Johnson says.

For many Valley students, including Ochoa, the campus tours they take through GEAR UP mark their first college visits.

"We take them there. We show them the dorms. And we combine it with a career visit," meaning -- Johnson says -- students might also visit a Boeing facility in Seattle or another employer during their trip.

"That kind of exposed me to the college life," says Ochoa, whose father is a farm worker and whose mother runs an in-home daycare. "I hadn't really been out of the Sunnyside area before."

This week, several schools held National GEAR UP Day celebrations. The open house Wednesday night at Grandview High School also recognized GEAR UP. On Thursday, Granger High School held a GEAR UP College Fair during its lunch hour.

And there's a reception tonight at Heritage University in Toppenish.

In all, UW's GEAR UP program has served nearly 18,000 students.

The Yakima School District also runs a GEAR UP program in partnership with Yakima Valley Community College. Washington State University and Central Washington University have their own GEAR UP programs.

* To learn more about the national GEAR UP program, visit the National Council for Community and Education Partnerships at www.edpartnerships.org.

If you go ...

* What: National GEAR UP Day celebration

* When: 5 to 7 tonight

* Where: Petrie Hall/Helen Jewett Student Center at Heritage University in Toppenish

* INFO: 509-865-8670.