Local students GEAR UP for college during program at East High

 

 

By Felix Hoover

For Your News Columbus

Sept. 11, 2010

 

 

Middle school and high school students from throughout Central Ohio received encouragement to map a path to higher education Saturday at a college fair at East High School.

 

About 150 students attended the event, which was sponsored by Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity and GEAR UP, for Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs.

 

The Alphas have a long-standing program Go to High School, Go to College, which meshed with GEAR UP, said Carlos Bing, the fraternity’s director of educational activities.

 

Sessions on social networking and what admissions officers look for in prospective students took place before students met with representatives from more than 20 colleges and universities.

 

Brandi Holt, 14, a sophomore at Gahanna Lincoln High School, said she learned about the merits of taking demanding courses in high school, including those that can earn college credit, as well as the need to be involved in extracurricular activities.

 

Halle Prewitt, 15, a sophomore at Eastmoor Academy said that the social networking session taught her to be professional when going online.

 

“Don’t put your personal information out there,” she said.

 

For Jimmieca Combs, 17, a senior at Linden-McKinley High School, one of the lessons was, “Keep my mind open; there are a lot of colleges out there.”

 

Students at Champion Middle and East High schools will have the opportunity to make college visits in September and October as part of GEAR UP, said Lakeshia Calhoun, director of the program for Franklin County.