Local eleventh and twelfth grade students “Start with a Goal” at Eastern Oklahoma State College’s GEAR UP summer college readiness camps
Students from southeastern Oklahoma gathered at Eastern Oklahoma State College during the month of June to develop their leadership skills, give back to their community, and begin their journey to college.
EOSC GEAR UP partnered with FOCUS Training to design and deliver two, four–day College Matters Institute Camps. With a theme of SWAG—Start with a Goal, students were challenged from the start to further their college aspirations. Students left prepared to apply, get accepted, and to be successful in college.
Sessions attended included:
● Navigating the Admissions Process—identifying and working on components of a college application
● Financial Aid—how to develop a plan to pay for school
● Career Exploration—learning educational requirement for career goals
● College Survival Skills— knowing the support resources on a college campus
As part of camp, participants immersed themselves in college life at EOSC by experiencing instruction in a college classroom setting, sleeping in the residence halls, and dining in the cafeteria.
Highlights of the camps included:
- Students walked away with a list of eligible scholarships, a completed personal statement, and a student leadership profile.
- An EOSC panel of current students and educators for campers to ask and gain knowledge about life at Eastern Oklahoma State College.
- A low ropes adventure course to build confidence and challenge management skills.
- A mock college fair to better understand college fit and to learn the dos and don’ts when interacting with admissions counselors.
- A community service project where students created superheroes for the Children’s Center Rehabilitation Hospital’s Superhero Week in Bethany, Oklahoma.
- Student presentations at the end of camp focusing on what they learned and what they will do with this knowledge after camp.
Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP) is a federal initiative to increase the number of low–income students who enter and successfully transition into postsecondary education. Eastern will receive more than $12.6 million during a seven–year period to help students and educators in 27 partner schools. The camp was free to GEAR UP participants.
Summer Camp #1—Bokoshe, Canadian, Clayton, Hartshorne, Indianola, LeFlore, McAlester, Moyers, Panola, Savanna, Spiro, Stringtown, and Whitesboro.Front Row: Talia Cox, Lauren Bratcher, Jessica Decker, Randy Gray, Jr., Anna Johnson, Colton Luna, Neva Northcutt, Lily Romero, Jenna Russell, Jayden Freeman, and Christian Scarberry.
Row 2: Alyssa Chang, FOCUS Training; Morgan Arledge, Kylee Baldwin, Lacey Kinnikin, Madison McCoy, Alexandria Miller, Briana Nichols, Scotlin Rizor, Anthony Stephenson, Sadie Brown, Karlie Young, Jennifer Ashley, Kennedy Bullett, Martin DelaGarza, Nathan Gilliland, Cheyenne Hearst, and Vale Cardenas, FOCUS Training.
Row 3: Latrell Armstrong, FOCUS Training; Gabriela Lopez, Zoee Lovett, Kaitlyn Michael, Davian Noels, Dakota Smead, Hannah Webb, Eric Crawford, Ty Kellett, Emily Patton, Alyssa Calvin, Rosetta Coley, Alison Corcoran, Doralynn Cox, James Finney, and Joseph Holloway.
Back Row: Cheyanne Sinor, Leah Back, Jessica Kalstad, Brooklyn Kelley, William Sears, Emily Shiew, Michael Strain, Jacob Tate, Shelby Underwood, Trinity Williams, Brianna Birchfield, Tory Eatmon, Abigail Moore, Jared Walker, Jaden Parsons, and John Cranford III.
Summer Camp #2—Antlers, Atoka, Crowder, Haileyville, Keota, McAlester, McCurtain, Panama, Quinton, Rattan, Talihina, and Wilburton.Front Row: Christopher Burnett, Jr., Corbin Owens, John Stout, Bryce Williams, Nathan Airington, Jaxson Allen, Ty Brannon, Matthew Brooks, Matthew Clay, Ann Dong, Aurora Buss, Kaitlyn Daniel, Rebecca Kuehn, Liam Morris, Libby Rolland, and Kaytlen Sennett.
Row 2: Sonny Botts, William Copeland, Jackson Cole, Noah Turner, Cat Atchley, Damian Breshears, Lucas Cable, Jonathan Delcid, Davie Dobbs, Jr., Dillon Lanford, Pamela Patton, Michael Williams, and Trace Murdock.
Row 3: Telissa Call, Kaylia Coleman, Courtney Phillips, Alyssa Powell, Tori Ryan, Andrew Howell, Ivan Baker Jr., Elisha Crow, Lauren Heady, Desarae Jordan, Shania Lawrence, Laura Loftin, Marin McClellan, Johnathon Shores, Kathryn Wilson, and Lauren Baugh.
Back Row: Zane Jacobson, Kevin Pollard III, Andrew Young, Karley Anderson, Robert Gill, Hannah Gockel, Giles Goddard, Sam Goddard, Tre LaMere III, Ujayi Patel, Colt Petty, Allie Sellers, Zach Sims, Charles Sorrell, Trey White, and Lawrence Wood.