GEAR UP Parent Survey

As a parent, you are your child’s most important teacher and

advocate. Montana GEAR UP would like your views on how our program is working at Troy High School. In partnership with the school, Montana GEAR UP works to promote academic preparedness, postsecondary planning, and financial aid awareness. Please take a few moments to fill out our survey. It will take about 10 minutes to complete and is confidential. Your answers will help us better serve and educate all students. THANK YOU!

http://praed.net/mt_parent/

Username:  Your son/daughter’s last name

Password:  Your son/daughter’s birthdate in the format MMDDYYYY

For example: 05102000

 7th-10th Grade Students:  Get a parent to fill out the GEAR UP survey and you get a free t-shirt!*

See Ms. S. Davis to claim your shirt!

9th and 10th Grade GEAR UP

There are many exciting activities planned for our high school GEAR UP students this year.  The first field trip for the 9th graders occurs in October.

The 9th graders are participating in Project REACH at the Cabinet Peaks Medical Center in Libby.  Students will be participating in hands-on activities in the different departments to learn about health sciences careers.  While students may not be sure this field is for them, the more opportunities students are exposed to, the better!

As for the 10th graders, they will have a STEM trip and a college visit to look forward to.  I will be meeting with them for their assistance in planning these trips.  As they are just a few short years away from graduating, the more feedback I can get from them, the better!

Other items new for this year include: planners, five new graphing calculators to use in Geometry classes; freshman in Ms. Vestal’s English class will be able to purchase books; and HS students will have the opportunity to earn volunteer hours as math lab tutors for Ms. Drury’s enrichment and receive an honorarium for their efforts.

Career Development

7th Graders meet twice a month with Ms. S. Davis to work on career development skills.

In a recent activity, 75% of 7th graders stated a desire to attend some type of postsecondary education, whether that is a certificate program, a 2 year college, or a 4 year college. 

Students also had to decide whether or not they would pursue a career if there were few job openings per year.  Most students wanted to choose a career where there were many job  openings a year. 

Finally, they also had to decide how many years they would have to attend college to get a job.  Some students   wanted to just go to college for a year and others for 6-8 years after high school.  Students will continue to explore their interests and careers and gather information to help them with this lifelong process.

8th Grade Study Skills

Every month, the 8th graders meet Ms. S. Davis in order to develop their study skills.  This month, we discussed all the different study skills they knew so far, which included: note-taking, mnemonics, drawing pictures, using a highlighter, studying for a quiz with friends, and making flashcards.

Students completed two quizzes—one to see what side of their brain dominated their learning, and the other to see what learning style fit them the best: visual, auditory, or kinesthetic.  Then they found a group that scored similarly and had to demonstrate how they would use these skills to study for material in two different classes.

By using their creativity, students were able to come up with some imaginative ways to help them study for classes.  Other topics we will cover this year are:  time management and organization, reading skills, note-taking skills, and test-taking skills.

 How Can Parents/Guardians Support GEAR UP?

There are many opportunities throughout the year to support GEAR UP.  One way is to chaperone one of the many field trips we go on during each school year. 

Each grade goes on at least two field trips—one college visit and one STEM trip (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics).  I am always looking for parents/guardians who are willing to volunteer as a chaperone for a field trip.  You will even get a free lunch for your time!  Please contact me for more details.

Other ways to support GEAR UP include: encouraging your son/daughter to go on field trips, talking about the trips before and after, attending all GEAR UP sponsored events, talking with your son/daughter about college (you can start with where you went to college or family members who went to college), and following their academic progress on Infinite Campus.  For more information:  http://mus.edu/gearup/students_parents.asp

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC BEE WINNER: A.J. FAUR

On Friday, January 10th, the National Geographic Bee was held in the high school auditorium. 33 students in grades 4-8 participated and all students in those grades were in the audience to watch the competition as well as many parents and teachers.

The winner of the competition was A.J. Faur, who is in the 8th grade.  The next step for A.J. is to take a 70 question multiple choice test.  If he scores high enough on the test, he will be eligible to participate in the state bee.

The competition was a lot of fun for both the participants and observers.  Participants were supporting each other and giving each other high fives as each went up to the microphone to answer a geography question.

After the preliminary round, nine finalists moved forward and the championship round was between A.J. Faur and Kaitlyn Downey. Both answered one out of three questions correctly. Then, the championship round went to a tiebreaker, and the final question was: The Donets Basin is an industrial area shared by Russia and which neighboring country to the west?  A.J. gave the correct answer, which was Ukraine.

Congratulations to all the participants and good luck to A.J.! 

The winner and eight finalists for the National Geographic Bee are pictured on the stage after the competition. From right to left: A.J. Faur (winner), Tristyn Winebark, Sarah Osborn, Allie Coldwell, Maizey Johnson, Kaitlyn Downey, Zach Cotten, Jaymin Stever, Austin McCully, and Ms. Davis

College Student Panel and Fair

On Tuesday, January 7th, five of Troy’s graduates returned to the high school to share their college experiences during an assembly to all 7th-12th grade students.  They spoke on the topics of financial aid, roommate issues, studying, classes, majors, and many more topics.

              All students benefited from hearing about these students’ experiences and made the goal of pursuing any type of postsecondary education more attainable. 

              After the panel, GEAR UP students interviewed the college students in the gym and were able to ask more of their own questions about their college experiences.

From the completed surveys, 14 surveys were chosen and those GEAR UP students won a donut party on Thursday, January 16th.

How To Start Thinking About Careers

Interests

Think about what interests you, both in and out of school.  You will be spending a lot of time in a future career so you want to make sure you enjoy the work!

Work Environment

Do you like working outside?  Do you like working in an office?  Knowing what type of environment you would prefer to work in will help you narrow down your choices.

Education

Research what education you will need to pursue the careers in which you are interested. This will help you be more prepared and give you more options for the future.  Take math and science classes to open more doors and career choices.

Money, Money, Money

Money isn’t the most important thing about a job.  Happiness and fulfillment are also important aspects of any job.  However, if you know the education you need and the salary range to live the life you would like, then it will help you make an informed choice.