It's Finally June!

BLOG POST

Our staff interviews have been very popular! This month we are featuring an interview with Elana Ruminski, GEAR UP First Year College Advisor at the Collelge of Southern Nevada! You can read it here!

NCCEP Annual Conference

July 13-16, 2025

It won't be long now! NCCEP's annual conference, will be held in San Francisco next month! The conference theme this year is, Planting Seeds. If you haven't attended a national conference before, you don't want to miss it! NCCEP always puts on a great conference with inspiring keynote speakers and an amazing array of break out sessions. There is something for everyone! Registration is open and there is still time to register: https://www.edpartnerships.org/annual .

NDE Fall Training

August 12 & 13

We are kicking off Year 7 in our usual way - by meeting in Reno for NDE training on August 12th & 13th. One thing that is different this year, this training will include the fall professional development session on Dependable Strengths which should be better received as an in-person session rather than virtual or requiring everyone to travel to Las Vegas in November. See you there!

National #WhyApply Day

September 19th

Once again, the American College Application Campaign will be hosting their #WhyApply Day. This day is a big push on social media sharing all the reasons why students should apply to the college or career training program of their choice. It is a great opportunity to get faculty and staff members to share their alma mater and give their reasons why they pursued postsecondary education. There is a template for photos. If you are interested, please contact Janet Stake for the template.

NCCEP National GEAR UP Week

September 22-26

It's not long after the new school year starts when we will be celebrating National GEAR UP Week. This year the theme from the annual conference, Planting Seeds, will be continued for National GEAR UP Week. Did you know that NCCEP has a toolkit and other ideas to celebrate National GEAR UP Week? Here is the link: https://www.edpartnerships.org/gearup-week-toolkit. Stay tuned for updates to this toolkit as we get closer to the event. What do you have planned for this celebration?

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!

More Summer Bridge Photos!

Success at the Summer Bridge Program!

GEAR UP ASPIRE welcomed 52 rising seniors to UNLV for Summer Bridge this June! Students were bussed to the UNLV campus and stayed overnight in the residence halls. They got to connect with their GEAR UP Specialists, hear directly from the national Common App team, and sit in on a first-year seminar lecture where they debated the merits of general education requirements, among many other activities. A HUGE shout out to the specialists, FYCAs, NSHE, and NDE GEAR UP teams for showing up for students, and in particular to Kelly Briggs of GBC and Jana Burd of NSHE for staying overnight in the residence halls. The students had a blast playing board games and having thoughtful conversations about their futures with them before lights out. Student feedback was overwhelmingly positive, with most students asking for a longer camp experience next year! We look forward to seeing these connections flourish over the next school year.

GEARing UP to Move UP!

This is a very bittersweet recognition. Effective July 1st, Nicole Stella, our ASPIRE Director, will leave GEAR UP and begin a new position at UNLV. This move is a big step for her along her chosen career path. Nicole has led the ASPIRE program from it's beginning and is closing out her tenure in this role having organized and provided oversight of the recent Summer Bridge Program. Our program has definitely benefitted from Nicole's extensive knowledge and can-do attitude. Both of which, we will undoubtedly miss.

You are always welcome back, Nicole! Wishing you lots of luck in your new position!

Congratulations Josh!

Speaking of moving up, we are pleased to congratulate Josh Loftis, the new Program Officer for the GEAR UP program at NDE! We all know Josh as he has been the current administrative assistant for the program at NDE for the last couple of years.

We're so happy for you, Josh!! Way to go!!

Welcome Kacie!

We are pleased to welcome Kacie Harer to the GEAR UP family. Kacie is taking over for Ana Hernandez-Wong as the GEAR UP Communications Specialist/Student Worker. Kacie will be largely responsible for our social media content and posting, assisting with the GEAR UP Digest, and updating the website as needed. Kacie is a senior at UNR majoring in Public Health.

Welcome to the GEAR UP team, Kacie!

July Awareness Calendar and Photos from the Summer Bridge Program!

Awareness Calendar from: https://crestline.com/c/calendar-of-events