5E\u2019s of Equity partner school<\/a>, in Buckeye, Arizona. They discussed how they first got into GEAR UP and how they navigate the \u201cnew normal\u201d of the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\nDenise is a former school counselor turned coach, and she is in her first year with Arizona GEAR UP. \u201cWhen I saw the role of GEAR UP coach, it sounded too good to be true! This is exactly what I wanted to do,\u201d Denise said.<\/p>\n
Christina is also in her first year as a GEAR UP Coach, but she is no stranger to Youngker; she taught math at Youngker for five years before becoming a coach. \u201cI felt as a GEAR UP coach, I would be able to reach more students and help them throughout their whole high school career.\u201d<\/p>\n
The coronavirus pandemic has introduced new obstacles to schools all over the country.<\/p>\n
Earlier this school year, Youngker transitioned to fully online learning. Christina and Denise continue to use their resources and have adapted to this new virtual world.<\/p>\n
\u201cThank goodness we have Zoom and Teams. With these programs, we can have a \u2018face-to-face\u2019 with students and parents, and build a connection we couldn\u2019t get over the phone,\u201d Christina said.<\/p>\n
The duo had planned in-person events this school year, but converted to a virtual model. Their first event of the year was the \u201cFAFSA College and Career Ready Frenzy,\u201d held in October. Traditionally, students go from station to station, learning, and successfully completing sections of the FAFSA in person. With help from school counselors, Denise and Christina replicated the event virtually.<\/p>\n
\u201cBeing able to simulate what was typically done in person in the past, in a virtual world, I\u2019m very proud of!\u201d Denise said excitedly about pulling off the event entirely online. \u201cIt was successful. There were so many kids there and being active. It was awesome.\u201d<\/p>\n
Even with these virtual obstacles, the team remains optimistic. Using their success with the FAFSA Frenzy, they continue to work with staff to make in-person events accessible online.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was one of our most successful events. The turnout was close to or even more than previous events,\u201d Christina said.<\/p>\n
Christina and Denise have organized a handful of events since the FAFSA Frenzy, including virtual parent nights, that help parents with any questions regarding college access. In addition to the events, the two continue to work with both the parents and students, helping them with college applications, FAFSA completion, and answering questions about school.<\/p>\n
The team makes the most out of online learning, but say they look forward to when it is safe to go back to in-school learning so they can see their students once again. In the meantime, they work hard with students to help them reach postsecondary plans. With dedication, experience, and resilience, these coaches and others help Arizona GEAR UP ensure a bright future for Arizona students.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
When we ask alumni about their experience with Arizona GEAR UP, we hear things like, \u201cmy coach never gave up on me,\u201d or \u201cas a first-gen student, they helped me with college applications,\u201d and one of our favorites, \u201cwithout my coach\u2019s support, I wouldn\u2019t be where I am today.\u201d Throughout this grant cycle, we will […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":555,"featured_media":2296,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","_oasis_is_in_workflow":0,"_oasis_original":0,"_oasis_task_priority":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5,3],"tags":[43,7,44],"class_list":["post-2337","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","category-education","tag-coaches","tag-gear-up","tag-youngker"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/gear-up\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2337","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/gear-up\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/gear-up\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/gear-up\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/555"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/gear-up\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2337"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/gear-up\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2337\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/gear-up\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2296"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/gear-up\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2337"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/gear-up\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2337"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/in.nau.edu\/gear-up\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2337"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}