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District GEAR UP presenters report student gains, outline uses for annual $50,000 grant
Summary
A GEAR UP program team told the Green County Board the federal grant (core award $50,000 annually) supports college and career readiness activities across several cohorts; presenters reported benchmark gains in tenth-grade scores and listed program activities and participation counts.
Representatives of the GEAR UP program gave the Green County Board of Education a progress report on grant-funded college and career work, describing academic gains and how the district uses its $50,000 annual core award.
Kayla (program manager) and Andy Barber (program support) said the local GEAR UP grant began in 2021 and runs through 2028. The presenters said the district’s primary cohort is the class of 2027 and the program also serves students in the classes of 2028 and 2029 to meet grant participation requirements. "We have a primary cohort, which is graders for the class of 2027. But we've picked up other groups of students just to fulfill the grant requirements in terms of numbers," a presenter said.
Program staff described uses of the core and supplemental funding: transportation and food for college and job-site visits, Chromebooks for middle and high school students, monitors, reading-intervention materials (McGraw Hill SRA), math intervention software, after-school tutoring (about $4,500 invested), professional development and plans for a summer enrichment program. "We purchased technology for student use... We purchased McGraw Hill, which is an SRA reading intervention program..." a presenter said.
Presenters provided outcome and participation numbers. They reported benchmark gains for tenth grade: last year’s tenth-grade reading score of 55.7 and a projected score of 65.4 based on available data. They said 381 students have received at least a half-hour of college and career exploration (with a goal of 1 hour by May). Family-engagement figures included 242 parents/guardians participating in events and 244 students who received a half-hour of family engagement. Presenters also emphasized mentoring, social-emotional learning (SEL) training for staff, and required federal reporting: "when we have our APR in April, we're pulling this information, and we're sending it back to the federal government," a presenter said.
Presenters named program contributors: Carmen Galloway (professional development) and Christian Kalphand (program director for the region), both cited as providing support though not present at the meeting. Andy Barber said the grant supports 14 districts across Appalachia and that Green County is one of those districts.
Ending: Program staff thanked the board for support and said they will continue reporting metrics to the district and federal grant officials.
