$18.5 million Gear Up grant to help students in Bibb County prepare for college

Current sixth and seventh grade students in Bibb County will be more prepared for college and future careers thanks to an $18.5 million Gear Up grant.

MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) — Current sixth and seventh grade students in Bibb County will be more prepared for college and future careers thanks to an $18.5 million Gear Up grant.

Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (Gear Up) addresses barriers that prevent students from successfully pursuing a postsecondary education. Jarred Moore, Bibb County School District Gear Up Director, says these students will enjoy these benefits all the way through graduation.

“We’ll be providing academic tutoring, summer enrichment camps, monthly workshops, financial literacy, exposure to various STEM careers,” Moore said. “Students will have various job fair and job shadowing opportunities. Once Gear Up students are eligible for dual enrollment, they’ll be taking advantage of dual enrollment through the resources that we’re able to provide from the Gear Up grant.”

Crystal Childers, the principal at Weaver Middle School, believes this will help fill the potential she sees as she walks the halls each day.

“We have future doctors, future lawyers, students that will be entrepreneurs,” Childers said. “And so, they’re already coming up with innovative ideas. They’re already participating in programs, so the Gear Up grant is only going to be the cherry on the top.”

Childers says the earlier students are able to identify what they want their futures to look like, the closer they’ll be to achieving it.

“It’s also going to give students the opportunity to go ahead and decide now what they want to do and get on those pathways,” Childers said. “I’m excited about that. I think our students are going to flourish as a result of this early exposure.”

Current sixth and seventh grade students will be the second cohort in Bibb County to benefit from Gear Up. The classes of 2017 and 2018 accessed the same programs beginning in middle school. Moore says many of them still reach out to talk to him about how much it prepared them for the future. He is hopeful this group of students will be able to look back and say the same, particularly those pursuing a career in STEM.

“Increasing that math proficiency and ensuring that when students graduate from the Bibb County schools, they are able to leave and be extremely successful in whatever career path they choose,” Moore said.

Moore says he’s working with faculty and staff in the district right now to implement these programs. He expects them to begin later this semester.