Alabama State University News December 3, 2014 Gear Up Alabama Kickoff Held at ASU By Deonshay Danson Alabama State University has partnered with GEAR-UP Alabama (GUA), an initiative created by the University of Alabama - Birmingham to serve the students in Alabama's Black Belt region starting from the sixth grade and through their first year in college. More than 100 Black Belt-area educators visited the ASU campus Wednesday, Dec. 3, for the GUA kickoff meeting. GUA representatives, Dr. Lawrence Tyson and Veronique Zimmerman-Brown, presented statistics highlighting the Black Belt region's academic performance compared to state and national averages. The high school graduation rate for students in the Black Belt is 72 percent, which is 8 percent less than the state average and 6 percent less than the national average. Of those Black Belt students who do graduate, only 46 percent attend college after high school. Students in the Black Belt also are more likely to live in areas with high crime and poverty rates. GUA will help address these issues by partnering with middle and high schools, institutions of higher education, private entities and community and religious organizations to work directly with students and parents in the region. For example, higher education institutions such as ASU will participate by allowing students access to the University's TRIO programs, which are designed to give middle and high school students an early introduction to college. Tamara Lee, director of Research and Sponsored Programs at ASU, said she was happy to welcome the educators to the campus and to kick off the new initiative. "ASU is a partner with GEAR UP Alabama ... and in that partnership, we will be able to affect more than 9,500 students in the Black Belt counties," Lee said. "We are especially excited to host this kickoff event at ASU ... we are delighted to have them [educators from the Black Belt] here with us today. It is extremely important for ASU to be involved because we are in the Black Belt region, and we want to affect as many of the children in the Black Belt and their families as possible." Other entities partnering with GUA include the Alabama State Department of Education, Auburn University, Black Belt Community Foundation, Regions Bank and the University of Alabama. Teresa King attended the kickoff meeting representing Perry County and Francis Marion High School in Marion, Ala., where she is a special education teacher. King, who also is an ASU alumna ('99, '05), said she was excited to learn about GUA and believes the program will help enrich the lives of the students in her community. "From what I've learned, GEAR UP is an awesome program that will help prepare our students for college. It's going to be very beneficial for the students in my area because it will provide an avenue to aid them in getting to college," King said. "It is very important for our community ... our students deserve a chance to have a way to get their education and create a better future for themselves and their families." SANDRA M. PHOENIX Executive Director HBCU Library Alliance sphoenix@hbculibraries.org<mailto:sphoenix@hbculibraries.org> www.hbculibraries.org<http://www.hbculibraries.org/> 800-999-8558, ext. 4820 404-702-5854 Skype: sandra.phoenix1 1438 West Peachtree NW Suite 200 Atlanta,GA 30309 Toll Free: 1.800.999.8558 (LYRASIS) Fax: 404.892.7879 www.lyrasis.org<http://www.lyrasis.org/> Honor the ancestors, honor the children.