The California GEAR UP Program’s Education Trust Award Component is premised on the expectation that offering a monetary incentive to students would stimulate the entire family and school community to support his or her preparation for college. Each year, participating middle schools select students to receive an Education Trust Award valued at $2,000. College savings accounts are established in the name of each of the selected students that grow to approximately $2,500 by high school graduation. Students can access these funds to pay for college expenses once they enroll in a college or university.

Thanks to the principals from the middle schools for sharing the picture and information on the event:

Greetings from the Merced team! We had our ETA Awards Night Monday night and what a great event it was.

The Merced Schools (Hoover Middle School, Rivera Middle School, and Tenaya Middle School) came together on 5/10/10 to celebrate $28,000 in scholarship money going out to our students in the Merced City School District. Administrators were joined by Merced City School Board of Education Members Susan Walsh and Jessica Kazakos, Merced City School District Administrators Dr. Rosemary Parga-Duran, Greg Spicer, Dr. Tammie Calzadillas, Annie Dossetti, and Dr. Ken Testa, President of Merced Community College Dr. Ben Duran, and CA GEAR UP Regional Coordinator Jill Campbell.

The three Merced Schools have been a model of collaboration within California GEAR UP for the last two years, and this event was a culmination of their hard work and determination.

Since 1999, 5,129 students have received these awards from the program and are selected by school personnel at California GEAR UP schools.  We hope that you or a community member would like to attend one of our local Education Trust Award celebrations in your area. Contact us at Gear-Up@csac.ca.gov.