WAGONER, Okla. — For 30 years the University of Oklahoma's K20 Center has worked with districts across the state to get kids in the right direction, be it with college or trade school, but 2024 will bring a new opportunity in the "Gear Up for Life" initiative.
“The Gear Up grants specifically are in schools of poverty," K20 Center Director Dr. Leslie Williams told 2 News.
"And it is really about those students not dropping out as their secondary education progresses, being rigorously and academically prepared, where they can be successful and they can graduate high school."
Dr. Williams said the initiative brings select mentors and tutors to help students with their academic and social lives as they get older.
An $86 million dollar federal grant, the biggest in the K20 center’s history, was announced last month.
The funding will be spread across 27 middle schools in the state, including several in northeast Oklahoma like Coffeyville, Catoosa, Drumright, Salina, and Wagoner Middle School. 2 News visited WMS Thursday to ask Principal Jeremy Holmes more about how his school, of which 100% of the student body qualifies for free or reduced lunch, will benefit.
Holmes said architects of the program will meet with faculty before unveiling it to students next month.
“I think that's what's most important, is that they have a positive influence other than their teachers here at school other than those particular hours even through the summer and different things like that," Holmes said.
Mentors with Gear Up will also report to teachers like Craig Flatter, who's taught science classes at Wagoner for two decades.
“We have a lot of students too that still don't think they can go to college, maybe don't have anybody in the family that's going to college," Flatter said. "So this might open those doors to see that there is possibilities and pathways for them to find the way, to make it to college, to get scholarships."
The initiative takes effect next semester, hoping to yield life-changing results by the end of its seven year cycle.
“The more positive voices that we can have in any teenager's life at any stage of their life, I think that is the most important thing," Holmes added.
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