Looking Forward to October!

BLOG POST

This year we are starting a new feature for our blog, writers can write a blog or tell us their Top 5! This month we are featuring the Top 5 Moments You Have Enjoyed with the GEAR UP Team or GEAR UP Students, from Tawnie D'Angelo, First Year College Advisor at Western Nevada College. You can read it here!

Year 7 Approval!

September 19th

This was the news we have all been waiting for! Our continuing grant was approved by the feds for Year 7. The Year 6 extension kept us all on the edge of our seats waiting and wondering. We know there were several fellow GEAR UP programs that were cancelled during this time. We are very fortunate that we have been selected to continue the important work that we do. As of this writing, we are still awaiting budget approvals from NDE but hopefully those will be set soon.

Year 7 NSHE Intro Events

October

The NSHE institutions will continue our district focused intro events for this year, improving upon the efforts from last year. Once again, we have invited our scholarship partners from the Treasurer's Office, the Pubic Education Foundation, and the NV Promise program to attend as well. The current schedule is:

October 14th for CCSD at CSN W. Charleston,

October 23rd at PVHS during teacher conferences, and November 5th at MCHS, also during teacher conferences.

College and Career Fairs

October

This year, NDE gave permission for schools to offer their Career and College Fairs during the fall or the spring terms, whichever suited them best. Typically, they were all held in the spring. Taking advantage of this change, the a couple of the CCSD schools will be hosting their fairs in the fall. Bonanza High School held the first fair during National GEAR UP week (see related article on the right). Durango High School will hold their fair on October 30th. Clark has postponed their fair until spring. Pahrump Valley and Mineral County High Schools will be holding their fairs in the spring as well.

2nd Annual Nevada FAFSA Challenge

October - March

Yes, there will be another FAFSA completion competition this year! One change for this year is there will be three winners based on senior class size: small 1-199, medium 200-499, and large 500+. More information is available on the website: https://apply.nevada.edu/fafsa-challenge/. Can a GEAR UP school win again?

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!

National GEAR UP Week Celebrations!

GEAR UP Nevada certainly didn't miss the opportunity to celebrate National GEAR UP Week! There were an assorted variety of events such as the College and Career Fair at Bonanza, a joint event with Dean's Future Scholars program and TMCC which included arts and crafts as well as swag giveaways, an open house at GBC Pahrump, outreach efforts to first year college students, a presentation highlighting Nevada GEAR UP with STEM vendor, MAD-Learn, and more!

National GEAR UP Week is celebrated all around the country in a multitude of creative ways. This celebration is not just for GEAR UP staff and students. It highlights the good work that GEAR UP does. Through these efforts, we hope to continue to build support and advocacy for our program now and well into the future. #GEARUPworks!

FAFSA Release

The FAFSA was released a little earlier this year on September 24th following two beta testing periods. Feedback from those that participated in the beta testing was very positive. The Office of Federal Student Aid implemented a few new changes this year. Probably the most significant for student purposes, they no longer have to create the student aid account (formerly FSA ID) a couple of days ahead of completing the FAFSA. Students can now create their account and immediately complete and submit the FAFSA!

#WhyApply Day Wrap UP!

Hopefully you got a chance to see it! NSHE and GEAR UP participated in the American College Application Campaign, national social media effort, #WhyApply Day by posting photos and a video highlighting various staff members holding signs about why student should attend college or a career training program. There were two separate posts created by the NSHE Public Information Office, one was a video with all participants and one was just for GEAR UP. If you missed them, here are the links. For the GEAR UP only post: https://www.instagram.com/p/DOzK6zhjrjI/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA== and to the general video: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DOzMAkKkq7K/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

Thank you to all of the NSHE and GEAR UP staff members that participated! Special thanks to the NSHE PIO Elizabeth Callahan and Ezra Skarlatos for creating these wonderful posts!

November Awareness Calendars and GEAR UP Week Photos