Long time GEAR UP champion Senator Jack Reed of Rhode Island received an award for Educational Achievement this morning and spoke about education reform efforts in his home state, including investment in community colleges and technical schools.

The key note speaker was Ruby Payne, best selling author of “A Framework for Understanding Poverty”. She shared her insights on the “hidden rules of poverty” as well as:

• The knowledge that is taken for granted are the hidden rules of that socioeconomic class.
• Characteristics that make generational poverty different from situational poverty.
• Support systems that can be used in schools to help students of poverty.
• Relationships are significant motivators in poverty and therefore can lead to achievement for students.

The highlight of the morning was the GEAR UP Parent Leadership Awards sponsored by CollegeEd.

More to come as the day unfolds. Looking forward to the lunch plenary as I understand there will be some surprises!

UPDATE:

Sessions we attended today:

• “How to get male students in college and keep them out of trouble” (hint: you involve them early in the college process)
• “Self determination: A strategy for enhancing postsecondary outcomes for students with disabilities.”  (hint: you prepare them for a non-structured environment and start early)
• “Successful transitions from middle to high school”  (hint: use student academic-year clubs and articulation strategies)

UPDATE:

The last function of the day is the Movie at 8, which premiered “El Juego Perfecto“. Based on a true story, in 1957 a ragtag, shoeless group of poor kids in Mexico shocked the world by winning 13 games in a row and won the Little League World Series. The encounter many adversities along the way to Williamsport, PA for the championship game. A really heartening movie that was attended by many. Check out the trailer HERE.

We will be collaborating with National Council for Community and Education Partnerships (NCCEP) at this year’s GEAR UP National Conference in Washington D.C. July 18-21. In order to provide vital information to families, GEAR UP program staff, and college-going students across the country, California GEAR UP will be ‘live-blogging’ the entire conference and providing timely updates on Twitter and Facebook. This years conference is titled: GEARing UP For Excellence: Linking Programs, Practice and Policy. This conference will convene GEAR UP and other college access professionals, as well as their partners for informative concurrent sessions, exciting speakers, and valuable networking opportunities. Starting July 18, follow us as we blog live at the conference.

Some of the featured events at the conference include presentations by conference sponsors on resources such as student data systems, literacy improvement strategies, the role call of GEAR UP states (which is always exciting), keynote speakers such as Juan Williams and Ruby K. Payne, Ph.D., as well as timely and informative concurrent sessions for all attendees.

Here is the schedule at a glance.

Here is the list of confirmed keynote speakers.

Information for first time conference attendees.

Washington DC visitors guide.

Follow all the action on our blog HERE (link will be live starting Monday July 19).