National GEAR UP Week Toolkit

National GEAR UP Week Toolkit

September 17-23, 2017 Join thousands of students, parents, teachers, partners, and college access professionals from across the nation to celebrate GEAR UP and the successes of your hard work and dedication! National GEAR UP Week is an opportunity for you to raise awareness in your community about the positive impact GEAR UP is having locally. It s a time to engage all your stakeholders - local, state, and federal elected officials, funders, partners, as well as local, state, and regional media - to share your program s accomplishments and to get them more involved with your services to students and families.

START THE YEAR OFF RIGHT Hold a GEAR UP Week at your school to kick off the year with fun and exciting activities (but without a lot of energy on your part!) that encourage a college-going culture in your school and community. You can use these materials during National GEAR UP Week or any time that works for you. This toolkit has everything you need instructions, posters, even morning announcements to put on a week of programs designed to get the word out about GEAR UP and the importance of going on to college. FOCUS ON STUDENT DREAMS National GEAR UP Week is a great opportunity to ask students to articulate and share their college and career aspirations. This creates momentum for our work and creates many formal and informal teachable moments. Create a DREAM WALL where students post their dreams; host a BALLOON RELEASE; or create a DREAM CHAIN in classrooms that create connections between students. LEVERAGE SCHOOL-WIDE ACTIVITIES Have a big, annual school-wide event planned? Implement it during GEAR UP week and get extra bang for your buck. Host a COLLEGE PEP RALLY; have a college SCAVENGER HUNT; or host a COLLEGE TRIVIA competition. Get teachers and administrators telling their stories and sharing their experiences! EMPOWER THE STUDENT VOICE Help students find the power in their stories. Create a school-wide #IHeartGEARUP campaign on social media; create a VIDEO COMPETITION about why college matters; have students write LETTERS TO THEIR FUTURE-SELVES about what they hope to achieve in school, college and beyond!

PLANNING QUESTIONS 1. What is our big, awesome, exciting main event for 2017 National GEAR UP Week? 2. What are our top three goals for the event? (Things like number of participants, number of media hits, participation by particular elected leaders, etc.) 3. How will we make our National GEAR UP Week event happen? What are key tasks? (What sort of room do we need to get? Do we need helium?) 4. Who are we inviting/encouraging/cajoling to participate? 5. What is our priority media outreach list? What are we going to send them, and when? 6. How else are we going to publicize our event? 7. How will we document our event? (Who s taking the pictures and sending them to the GEAR UP state office?)

GEAR UP Week Calendar Week of September 19-23, 2016 Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Middle School High School Parents & Community

Letters, Press & Media Resources Use these templates to help promote National GEAR UP week. Templates are also available on the Montana GEAR UP website. Proclamation Request Template - Use this letter template to request a proclamation for National GEAR UP Week from your Senators, Representatives, Governor, Mayor, Councilmembers, etc. Proclamation Template - Attach this proclamation template to your proclamation request to save time! Student letter to Member of Congress - Use this letter template as a guide to encourage your students to share their GEAR UP successes with their Members of Congress. Media Advisory - This template is to notify media outlets in your area to cover the event you are hosting. Media advisories are distributed ahead of the event so that outlets can schedule and plan to cover your event. Press Release - This template will help you create some "buzz" about your event. You can send it out before or after the event takes place, just make sure you edit it accordingly!

MORNING ANNOUNCEMENTS Use the following announcements about National GEAR UP Week and getting ready for college during regular announcements or on school TVs. Feel free to customize by adding in reminders for daily activities. Monday: It s GEAR UP Week this week! There will be activities every day. Starting today, you have until Friday to decorate the door of your homeroom with the colors and logo of the college of your choice. The winners will get a special prize. Also, tomorrow is GEAR UP or college t-shirt Tuesday! Wear your GEAR UP or other college gear. Share what your plan is for college and career on www.facebook.com/montanagearup. Tuesday: Happy National GEAR UP Week! Did you know that there are over 4,000 colleges and universities across the country? So whether you want to study to be a video game designer, nurse, makeup artist, or lawyer, or engineer, there is a school for you. Share what your after highs school dream is on the GEAR UP Dream Wall. Wednesday: Day 3 of GEAR UP Week! Did you know that by 2020, 68% of all jobs in the economy will require some type of education or training after high school? But you don t have to go to school for four more years after high school to get a degree there are 2-year degrees and 1-year or less certificates, too. Thursday: National GEAR UP Week has been awesome. Would you rather earn $32,000 or $54,000 a year? There s a $22,000 difference between a high school diploma and a college degree. College graduates are also more likely to be healthier and happier in their job. Or: If your door is not decorated you still have time. Door War winners will be selected tomorrow. Speaking of selecting have you looked into what scholarships are available to you? Friday: Thanks to everyone who has made National GEAR UP Week a huge success. We will be announcing the winners of the College Door Decor contest later today. Stay tuned! Also, did you know that. Montana is. Check in the counselor s office to learn more about how to get your hands on some of this cash!

ACTIVITY: SHARE YOUR EDUCATIONAL JOURNEY As part of GEAR UP Week and our efforts to help students make a plan for after high school, we ask that you take five minutes during your classes today to briefly share your educational journey with students. We want students to recognize that there are many paths to and through postsecondary education and to learn a little more about different colleges. Here are a couple of questions and prompts to help you share your story. Encourage students to ask questions, but please don t feel pressured to share anything you re not comfortable with. Thank you for helping to inform and inspire our students to postsecondary education! Where did you graduate from college? Did you attend any other colleges before/after? How did you pick the college(s) you attended? What did you major in? Did you change your major? What did you think you wanted to do as a career? What was something you struggled with in college, and how did you overcome it? (e.g. failing a test and then seeking extra tutoring, difficulty making friends so joined a club, etc.) What was one of the best things about college? (You can say the all-you-can-eat ice cream!)

ACTIVITY: GEAR UP BINGO A good ice breaker activity to get students talking with each other and making different connections as they learn more about their peer s academic achievements and aspirations. Hand out a blank BINGO card to each student and have them write one description from the list below on each blank square. Encourage students to pick and choose from the list but not to go straight down the line, this ensures each BINGO card has a different pattern. Once students have filled in their descriptions have students mingle and write the name of a classmate that fits a description on the card until they have a BINGO! Consider using the descriptions below or come up with your own! Would like to go out of state for college. Speaks more than 1 language. Has been on the honor roll. Plans to graduate with honors. Takes AP classes. Takes honors classes. Wants to attend a small college or university. Wants to major in math or sciences. Was born in another country. Has visited a college campus in the last year. Knows what GEAR UP stands for. Has attended more than 1 high school. Plays on a sports team. Wants to attend a university in a big city. Plays a musical instrument. Wants to attend a community college. Wants to major in English or journalism. Has taken the ACT or SAT. Has taken ACT s EXPLORE. Has taken the PSAT. Has researched different scholarships. Knows what the FAFSA is. Can describe the difference between a student loan and grant. Has participated in a GEAR UP family workshop. Has passed Algebra. Knows what career they want to enter. Has talked to their family about college. Can name three schools they will apply to. Has a GPA of 3.0 or higher. Has signed up for an FSA ID. Attended a GEAR UP summer camp

G E A R UP

ACTIVITY: DOOR DECOR Students and teachers work together and decorate their homeroom/advisory classroom door in a college theme. The winning door(s) get a special classroom prize. Additional Information: 1. Decide what the prize will be for classes that win the Door Decor activity. 2. Be sure to have enough supplies to outfit the needs of all teachers and students participating. 3. Set a start date and an end date. 4. Consider having different Best of categories, such as: Out of State 4 Year, In State 4 Year, Tribal College, and 2 Year College. 5. Consider inviting an elected official or local news reporter to help judge the doors and select the winners. Take Pictures! Take pictures of your student s hard work and share them with Montana GEAR UP. Be sure and take pictures of students and staff creating the door décor and of the final product! #GEARUPWorks #IHeartGEARUP #OneInAMillion

ACTIVITY: GEAR UP FOR COLLEGE GEAR DAY Encourage students and teachers to wear their GEAR UP t-shirts or other college clothing. Pass out shirts to new GEAR UP students. Have students decorate a small paper shirt with the college they want to attend and then tape it to the front of their locker.

ACTIVITY: DREAM WALL Create a GEAR UP Dream Wall Cover the wall of a school hallway with butcher paper, place a large National GEAR UP Week logo in the center with Our GEAR UP Dreams written underneath. Have students write their academic, professional, and personal goals on the wall or on a cut out to stick to the wall. Additional Information: Set up a College Dreams photo booth! Consider having dry erase boards that students can write their College Dreams on and hold during the photo.

ACTIVITY: Get to know GEAR UP/Teacher Time Profile Get to Know GEAR UP: This activity is designed for school staff to learn more about GEAR UP and how their support and involvement can positively impact students. Invite staff and educate them on what GEAR UP is all about. Explain the different services that GEAR UP will provide to students and families and programs and activities that will be hosted by GEAR UP. Teacher Time Profile: Have teachers fill out a profile that they can hang outside their classroom for students to read. Additional Information: Consider sending out the Teacher Time Profile to teachers through e-mail but also having some printed for staff to look at and possibly fill out at the Get to Know GEAR UP staff event.

Teacher Time Profile What are 5 different jobs you have had? IF you could do one thing differently as a student in high school what would it be? What did you do in high school to prepare yourself for your career or college? How did you decide what college to attend? Were your friends and family supportive of you going to college? Details please! Who did you look up to or admire when you were a student in high school? Why? What is your best memory of high school?

ACTIVITY: #mygearupstory CAMPAIGN This activity is great because it can involve students, families, and school staff. Answer a prompt below on a social media site and use the hashtag #mygearupstory in the post. Feel like taking the activity a step further? Take a picture or selfie to use in the post. Resources: www.facebook.com/montanagearup @MontanaGEARUP Prompts: How has GEAR UP inspired you? What are your plans after you graduate high school? Who inspires you to be the best person you can be? What challenge did you overcome while in school? What about your future makes you excited? Why is getting an education important to you? What career do you want? Why is GEAR UP an important program to you and your family? How has GEAR UP changed your outlook on education? Don t want to use any of the above prompts? That s okay! Come up with our own and share them with us!

#IheartGEARUP #GEARUPworks