You may have heard of GEAR UP before, or possibly passed by the office in the WIB building at USU Eastern. However, many do not know exactly how beneficial GEAR UP can be for local students.
GEAR UP stands for Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs. As a GEAR UP student, advisers and mentors are available to speak with students about their grades, future plans and more. Many of the advisers are currently college students themselves, which makes it easy to communicate and relate with them. GEAR UP has a goal of helping students get connected with useful services throughout the university.
Some services and activities provided by GEAR UP are one-on-one advising, field trips, summer activities such as the ACT Boot Camp, high school GEAR UP classes and more. The ACT Boot Camp, which was created and brought to USU Eastern by GEAR UP, was so successful that the college adopted the program itself to bring back each year.
Brandon Flores, the director of GEAR UP locally, stated that he would like to see the community lifted up and wants to see people placing more hope in education and supporting programs such as GEAR UP that stride to bring everyone together.
“That mindset places responsibility not just on the schools, but on the community, business leaders, local politicians and our local organizations,” Flores said.
GEAR UP happily provides services for high school students. For example, at Pinnacle High there is a GEAR UP class where students can attend and receive tutoring, mentoring and workshops that develop life skills. Activities such as campus visits also take place. Soon, GEAR UP students are going to be taken to Utah Valley University for a state-wide GEAR UP conference that will include tours, workshops and more.
Close to 200 students in Southeastern Utah were a part of GEAR UP last year. The program is currently accepting applications for students that will be entering their junior year of high school in 2017. GEAR UP will also be in attendance at all of the high schools registrations that will be taking place in Castle Country.
To enroll for GEAR UP, visit or call the GEAR UP office at (435)-613-5648 or speak with a high school counselor. Applications may also be downloaded by clicking here.