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