Caption: The GEAR UP Samoa staff prepare for a busy five weeks conducting their Summer Camps and Teacher Training Sessions. (L-R) Instructor Ernie Seiuli, Administrative Assistant Jason Hollister, Project Manager Marisa Ta'amu and Project Director Tupua Roy Fua. (Photo: J. Kneubuhl))

The acronym GEAR UP stands for Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs. A discretionary grant program designed to increase the number of low-income students prepared to enter and succeed in postsecondary education, GEAR UP provides six-year grants to states and partnerships to provide services at high-poverty middle and high schools. GEAR UP grantees serve an entire cohort of students beginning no later than the seventh grade, and follow the cohort through high school. GEAR UP funds also provide college scholarships to low-income students. Tupua Roy Fua of ASCC successfully applied last year for the GEAR UP funding that enables the College to serve as the center of the program in American Samoa.

Each Summer Camp will involve 80-100 students currently enrolled in GEAR UP, and will take place for three days at the campus of Taputapu Elementary School. This week, students from Manulele Jr. High will attend the first session, and over the next five weeks others will follow from Pavai’ai and Siliaga (June 12-14); Midkiff, Taputapu and Alataua II (June 19-21); Lupelele and Iakina (June 26-28); and Matafao, Kanana Fou and SPICC (July 3-5).  The Camps will highlight an inclusive approach to learning outside of a normal school situation, as well as recreational activities. Besides instructional workshops in English and Math, the students will also hear presentations from local agencies such as the Department of Health and the Department of Human and Social Services. Each Camp will wind up with the students returning from Taputapu to take a tour of the ASCC campus.  

“For these Summer Camps, we want to provide a safe environment that supports social and emotional development, as well as academic success,” explained Tupua. “For this purpose, the Taputapu campus offers the perfect environment for students to spend time with adults and peers engaged in fun and enriching activities.” While GEAR UP staff members Marisa Ta’amu and Ernie Seiuli supervise the Summer Camps, Tupua will lead the Teacher Training Sessions currently taking place through July 6th.

At the GEAR UP Samoa headquarters located next to the ASCC Gymnasium, two groups of teachers, tutors, mentors, and other activity facilitators involved in the program will meet daily for three hours to undergo professional development activities in areas such as Teaching Strategies, Technology, Learning Software and Teen Issues. According to Tupua, “GEAR UP makes available some of the latest instructional technology to make learning more effective and more interesting to students. Our Teacher Training Sessions will give us a chance to familiarize our professional participants with these resources. Even more importantly, we have the opportunity to discuss various methods of instruction that promote the philosophy behind GEAR UP. Basically, we aim to give students who normally would not have access to higher education a chance to gain that extra edge that will help them succeed.”   

For more information on GEAR UP Samoa, visit their web page at: www.gearup.as.

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