GEAR UP for SUCCESS introduces students and their parents to campus life through summer experiences such as College Forums at colleges and universities throughout the state. Students bring a parent and together they experience dorm life during an overnight college campus visit. Parent Brenda Cooke (pictured at right, far left) wrote GEAR UP a letter after she and her daughter Sierra (pictured at right, fourth from left), a sophomore at Smithville High School, participated in a College Forum last June at Southeastern Oklahoma State University. Read more of her letter.

GEAR UP for SUCCESS students on the University of Oklahoma campus last June couldn't know how timely the public service announcement would be in Oklahoma.  Students learned to develop and produce the PSA with Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication and Gaylord Family Endowed Professor Scott Hodgson.  Watch one of the public service announcements. 

When Waukomis High School parents, students and staff join together, one result is a College Information Night where nearly half of the sophomore parents - a majority of them indicating it was the first WHS school meeting they'd attended - and students learning about preparing and paying for college. That's SUCCESS! Read more about the partnership.

Brandon Voss, Maysville High School Social Studies teacher, is a two-summer veteran of the K20 GEAR UP for SUCCESS Authentic Teaching Experience (ATE).  Voss says the professional development he's received throughout the school year and during the summer have made him a more effective teacher.  Read more about this summer opportunity for GEAR UP teachers.