GEAR-UP Student Wins Scholarship

Daniel Owens from Clay-Battelle High School in Blacksville, W.Va., was one of six recipients of the 2006 GEAR-UP College Entrance Exam Scholarships awarded recently at the National Council for Community and Education Partnerships (NCCEP) Annual Conference.

In collaboration with NCCEP, Peterson's, a leading provider of education and career guidance, presented $2,500 scholarships to GEAR-UP students who have demonstrated the greatest improvement in their performance on official college entrance exams.

GEAR-UP (Gaining Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs) is a partnership between the federal government, schools, colleges, businesses and communities in order to guide and assist low-income students to make the academic choices that prepare them for success in and beyond high school.

Daniel Owens has been an active participant of the Fairmont State GEAR-UP program and plans to attend West Virginia University this fall.

"My participation in the GEAR-UP at Clay-Battelle helped me raise my ACT scores from a composite of 22 to 29," Owens wrote in his scholarship application essay. One of his plans is to pursue a career in labor arbitration in order to make a difference in the future by ensuring that both labor and management play by the rules.

Peterson's established this scholarship program in appreciation of the need for GEAR-UP students to attain supplemental financial assistance in order to pursue their college studies. According to Mary Gatsch, President of Peterson's, the scholarship recognition program aims to support these deserving students and provide inspiration to others who are actively participating in GEAR-UP programs all over the country.

GEAR-UP is a six-year, federally funded program that aims to significantly increase the number of students who are prepared to enter and succeed in education beyond high school. In 1999, Fairmont State received the largest of 164 partnership grants awarded throughout the U.S. to serve 47 schools in nine West Virginia counties for six years. In 2005, the partnership was continued with a new six-year grant, an additional $31 million and an expanded service area including 56 schools in 14 counties.

The Fairmont State GEAR-UP Partnership Grant serves more than 6,500 students and families in Barbour, Braxton, Calhoun, Doddridge, Gilmer, Harrison, Lewis, Marion, Monongalia, Preston, Randolph, Taylor, Tucker and Upshur counties.

For more information about GEAR-UP, call (304) 367-0436.