GEAR UP Iowa Conference fosters college and career readiness across partner districts

Dozens of educators, counselors and administrators from across Iowa gathered on the University of Iowa campus earlier last week for the GEAR UP Iowa Annual Conference to continue developing actionable strategies to advance college and career readiness for students in GEAR UP Iowa partner school districts.

GEAR UP, which stands for Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs, assists students most in need of support in preparing, enrolling and persisting through postsecondary education. GEAR UP Iowa began its first cohort in 2008 and is currently administering its fourth, which serves more than 7,500 students across 13 school districts.
The day's participants engaged in two tracks of planning and programming: one for school administrators and the other for non-administrators, such as teachers, counselors, advisors and community partners.

“This is a critical opportunity for everyone in the GEAR UP Iowa community to gather and have a day dedicated to maximizing the impact GEAR UP Iowa has in their schools,” said Iowa Department of Education GEAR UP Iowa Coordinator Amber Miller. “The format of this year’s event should help GEAR UP Iowa coaches and school administrators fine tune their blueprints through collaboration with their teams and colleagues from other districts.”

In preparation for the conference, each participating school completed a detailed form identifying the staff responsible for delivering various college and career readiness opportunities within their building, to create a comprehensive ‘blueprint’ tailored to each school.

Administrators used their blueprint as a guide to pinpoint gaps in their current offerings and overall college and career readiness framework. Once gaps were identified, the conference's collaborative structure enabled administrators from different districts to exchange ideas and develop solutions for each district's specific needs. By leveraging the collective knowledge and expertise in the room, administrators outlined innovative ways to fill these gaps, ensuring that all students have access to robust support systems.

“I greatly appreciated the networking opportunity with the administrators,” said Saydel High School Director of Programs and Services Alex Stubbers. “Being able to see and talk with other administrators who oversee GEAR UP programs gave me the opportunity to learn and identify ways we can modify our current programming to meet students' needs.”

While administrators focused on strategic planning, the non-administrative attendees were divided into small groups, each assigned one of five key service areas to address. Service areas included academic assistance, advising, college and career exposure, family knowledge and skills-based learning. Those small groups focused on brainstorming unique and effective ways to implement their service area within their school.

After generating ideas, each group shared their common successes, pain points and concerns related to their service area and worked collaboratively to develop practical solutions and inspire innovative thinking tailored to the specific needs of Iowa students.

“Administrators, teachers and counselors gained a deeper understanding of how GEAR UP can support students in the five service areas,” said Des Moines Roosevelt High School GEAR UP Coach Christina Estes. “We were able to have time to collaborate away from our school setting, which allowed great communication and planning for the future.”

Small groups also devoted time to brainstorming and identifying resources that support delivery of services in those key areas, ensuring that efforts are both impactful and well-documented for program sustainability.

At the end of the session, each group shared its insights and solutions with the larger group, promoting cross-pollination of ideas and fostering a spirit of collaboration.

A student panel, featuring three students from the recent GEAR UP Iowa Future Ready cohort, also highlighted the day's activities. The students, who are currently attending the University of Iowa, shared their personal journeys, discussing the challenges they faced and the support systems that helped remove potential barriers. Their invaluable perspectives and personal stories provided a salient reminder of the real-world impact of GEAR UP Iowa and the vital work ahead in meeting the college and career readiness needs of the students in the GEAR UP 3.0 cohort.

“This was my favorite part of the day,” Saydel High School Work-Based Learning Coordinator Casey McMurray said of the student panel. “The student experience reinforced aspects that I already suspected helped students, echoing that they need information repeated on multiple occasions and that they sometimes don't know how to ask for help. I will apply these takeaways in our work moving forward.”

The conference concluded with a crucial planning session as school districts reconvened with their teams to distill the ideas and strategies crafted throughout the day. Using their original blueprints and the collaborative input from both the administrator and non-administrator sessions, each team worked to build a concrete plan and budget for the upcoming school year.

“Sometimes you feel like you are in a silo and needing more ideas,” Estes said. “It was really great to hear what others are doing across the state with different sizes of districts. I gained new ideas and strategies which inspired me to take it back and increase the excitement with my own school.”

Bringing all these components together ensures that the energy and creativity of the day's activities and discussion transform into actionable steps for implementation, as GEAR UP Iowa staff hopes for attendees to leave the conference not only with new ideas, but with a clear roadmap for enhancing college and career readiness and GEAR UP Iowa's impact on their students.