News Releases

Wister GEAR UP students tour Oklahoma State University

Wister 11th and 12th-grade GEAR UP students recently toured Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, OK.  Students were greeted by Campus Visits and Event Coordinator Mariah Russell upon arrival at the Student Union.  The tour began in the Case Studies event room with a welcome video that detailed the campus environment, degrees, scholarships, and internships available to students. After a short Q&A, Senior Ambassador Caitlin Brooks led students on a walking tour of several buildings, including

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Wister GEAR UP students visit Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art

Wister’s eleventh-grade GEAR UP students recently visited Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas. Students were greeted by Sarah Foster School and Community Programs Coordinator upon arrival. Students were given a guided tour of the “This is US (United States),” art exhibit. Students viewed works of art and explored their interpretation of each piece of art through discussion. Students spent the remainder of their visit touring the art museum independently. Crystal Bridges gets

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Wister GEAR UP Students Take a Virtual Tour of Southeastern Oklahoma State University

Wister freshman and sophomore GEAR UP students recently participated in a virtual college tour of Southeastern Oklahoma State University (SOSU), the home of the Savage Storm. The students met with Recruiter Steven Harris via Zoom. Harris started the tour by asking the students about their future career interests. After viewing a short video, Harris discussed the top majors SOSU offers, including Safety and Aviation. Harris also reviewed the SOSU programs that the students showed interest

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Eastern Oklahoma State College GEAR UP Partner Schools Receive Technology During COVID-19 Pandemic

Eastern Oklahoma State College GEAR UP recently purchased a variety of technology items for area GEAR UP schools to assist with the schools’ needs for virtual learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Each GEAR UP school indicated its immediate need to help conduct virtual education for students. GEAR UP spent over $194,650 on laptops, headsets and Chromebooks. The technology was distributed to cohort schools based on the requested need. Eastern received a $17 million federal

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Wister GEAR UP students tour Connors State College

Wister eighth and ninth grade GEAR UP students recently toured CSC (Connors State College) in Warner, Oklahoma. The tour began in the Fine Arts Building. CSC Director of Recruitment Logan Nero and Assistant Director of Recruitment Chandler Young welcomed students to the Connors State College campus. Young provided students with a handout with CSC degree programs, financial aid information, tuition rates, and scholarship information. Nero discussed with students how important it was to explore different

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Wister eighth grade GEAR UP students tour the University of Arkansas Fort Smith

Wister eighth grade GEAR UP students recently toured the University of Arkansas (UAFS) campus in Fort Smith, Arkansas. Before the tour began, Admissions Officer Morgan Kratts spoke with the students in the Smith-Pendergraft Campus Center. Kratts discussed the importance of choosing a college that meets specific needs such as size of classes, location, price, and programs. There are over 80 future-focused bachelor’s and associate’s degrees and certificates and an 18:1 student to professor ratio. They

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Wister seventh grade GEAR UP students tour the University of Arkansas Fort Smith

Wister seventh grade GEAR UP students recently toured the University of Arkansas campus in Fort Smith, Arkansas. Admissions Officer Morgan Kratts spoke with the students in the Smith-Pendergraft Campus Center before the tour began. Kratts discussed the importance of choosing a college that meets specific needs such as size of classes, location, price, and programs. As the students were led through campus, the guide informed them of where specific classes were held. Some of these

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Wister 8th grade students visit the Janet Huckabee River Valley Nature Center in Fort Smith, Arkansas

Wister 8th grade GEAR UP students recently visited the Janet Huckabee River Valley Nature Center in Fort Smith, Arkansas. The Janet Huckabee Arkansas River Valley Nature Center sits on 170 acres of land in Fort Smith that were previously part of Fort Chaffee. Exhibits play a large part in the nature center. Students discovered representations of the Ouachita and Ozark mountains, a life-sized oak tree exhibit crawling with game and nongame animal displays and a

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Wister 7th grade students tour the Janet Huckabee River Valley Nature Center in Fort Smith, Arkansas

Wister seventh grade GEAR UP students recently visited the Janet Huckabee River Valley Nature Center in Fort Smith, Arkansas. The Janet Huckabee Arkansas River Valley Nature which was previously part of Fort Chaffee, sits on 170 acres of land in Fort Smith. Exhibits play a large part in the nature center. Students discovered representations of the Ouachita and Ozark mountains, a life-sized oak tree exhibit crawling with game and nongame animal displays and a 1,200-gallon

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Wister sixth and seventh grade GEAR UP students tour Science Museum Oklahoma

Wister sixth and seventh grade GEAR UP students recently traveled to Oklahoma City to visit the Science Museum Oklahoma. The two-story museum consists of a wide-array of hands-on activities that allow students to have fun in an engaging way. Students roamed, ran, and played while learning about various science principles. The museum, as well as the name, has evolved since its creation in 1958. The mission of Science Museum Oklahoma, formerly known as the Omniplex

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