We're Feeling the Love!

BLOG POST

This month's blog was written by Kinsey Minter, GEAR UP First Year College Advisor with the University of Nevada, Renol! You can read it here!

MAD-Learn 1-Day Camps!

Mar. 20 - 23

The first set of MAD-Learn Camps at our CCSD schools has been completed. Everyone involved said they were a great opportunity and experience for the students. See more camp photos below. We aren't done yet though! We have three more camps coming up in March. These camps will be held at Mineral County HS (March 20th), Pahrump Valley HS (March 22nd), and for the ASPIRE program (March 23rd)!

Apply Nevada FAFSA Nights

Spring 2024

We have two more Apply Nevada Nights hosted by our GEAR UP schools. Tonight's event will be held at Bonanza HS, 5:30-7:00 and Clark will host their event on March 6th also 5:30-7:00. Durango held their very successful event on February 7th. They assisted 17 families with their FAFSAs. Apply Nevada is a county-wide effort between CCSD, the Treasurer's Office, UNLV, CSN, NSU, and NSHE to schedule FAFSA Completion events throughout Las Vegas. These events are designed to assist in the scheduling of events due to the limited number of available financial aid staff.

College and Career Fairs

March 2024

Registration is OPEN! Plans are well underway and invitations have been sent for our annual College and Career Fairs this spring! These are very large events that are enjoyed by many students, staff, and community members. This year the fairs are scheduled as follows:

Tuesday, March 5th - Bonanza

Wednesday, March 6th - PVHS

Monday, March 11th - MCHS

Tuesday, March 26th - Clark

Thursday, March 28th - Durango

Social Media

(For all students, parents, staff and supporters)

If you have any suggestions for our social media, let Jana or Janet know! We are open to new ideas to help grow our following! Don't forget to like and follow @gearupnv on any or all of our social media platforms! You can use the icons above to access the GEAR UP accounts. We would love for you to tag us and interact whenever possible!

Photos from the MAD-Learn Camps and Mad City Money!!

More New Staff!

We are excited that we have a couple more new staff members to introduce!

Welcome Kelly!

We are happy to introduce Kelly Briggs, the new First Year College Advisor at Great Basin College! Originally from Ontario, Canada, before coming to Nevada, Kelly lived in a few other places around the world, such as China and Egypt! Kelly has worked in higher education for several years so she brings a lot of experience in working with students to our program. Kelly is looking forward to helping our students identify, refine, and work toward their dreams.

We are very happy to have you on the team, Kelly!

Welcome Diana!!

Diana Vang recently joined the GEAR UP NV team as a GEAR UP Specialist at Durango High School! Diana is originally from Wisconsin where she earned her bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Wisconsin. She initially moved to Las Vegas and joined Durango High School in 2019 as a counselor. Diana is excited to build relationships with students and families while fostering new community partnerships that will benefit them.

We are so glad you decided to join the GEAR UP team, Diana!

NDE Spring '24 Training

What happens when you bring the GEAR UP NV staff into one room? Professional development!

The state-wide Nevada GEAR UP team came together in January to prepare for the remainder of the school year. For 2 days at the CSN West Charleston campus, the team worked on collaboration and professional development to better prepare for our GEAR UP students and families. From coordinating guest presentations to confirming campus visit field trips, we are so excited to share what our team has planned for this semester! Stay tuned as we continue to organize more services and share updates on our latest activities!

NCCEP's Capacity Building Workshop Becomes the National GEAR UP Academy

For many years, NCCEP has hosted the Capacity Building Workshop (CBW). Initially this conference, usually held in February, would be hosted in various cities around the country. Until COVID at which time it became a virtual conference and effective a couple of years ago, that aspect became a permanent feature. This conference was focused on longer workshops on varying topics each day that provided materials and information that you could take with you and implement right away in your program. This year, which happens to be the 25th anniversary of NCCEP, they launched a new conference called the National GEAR UP Academy. The format was more similar to a regular conference but woven in between sessions were discussion labs, team time, and other activities. If you were interested in a particular theme, you would be able to build an agenda around that theme. The new Academy was full of useful information (did you know IBM has free skills certification courses?), motivating keynote speakers, and the perfect opportunity to network with GEAR UP colleagues around the country. It was a great way to kick off NCCEP's 25th anniversary year too!

GEAR UP Nevada was represented in the agenda by NSHE's Janet Stake, a member of NCCEP's Communications Advisory Committee, as the facilitator of the Communications Discussion Lab, Communications Strategies by Audience - What Works for You?

Mad City Money!

Bonanza High School seniors had the opportunity in early February to participate in a Mad City Money event! Each student was given a different living situation and was able to learn about how to navigate that adulting scenario. Students learned budgeting and planning regarding various financial tasks, from purchasing groceries, furniture, and clothes to making decisions on transportation, housing and other living expenses. At the end, students and volunteers shared their takeaways from the experience, with a great amount of positive feedback. Huge shout out and thanks to the Mad City Money team and our Bonanza GEAR UP Specialists Amanda Tapia & Vannessa Apo, as well as all of the volunteers and administrators that helped to make this event happen! We look forward to working with everyone again in the future!

March Awareness Calendar and More Photos from Mad City Money!