Vienna and Dongola Schools have been selected to participate the Illinois Student Assistance Commission's GEAR UP program and are seeking a coordinator for the program.
GEAR UP stands for Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs and is a seven year program that's funded through a federal grant. The Vienna-Dongola system is just one of ten K-12 schools systems across the state that will be taking part in this program.
Superintendent, Joshua Stafford, says that GEAR UP will start addressing students and their needs in the 6th grade. Mock job and scholarship interviews, help polishing their resumes and help FASFA completion are just a few of the steps being taken by the school.
"It's a very extensive checklist of things that we would call here in Vienna being life ready and career connected," said Stafford.
The school district is already helping students prepare for their post-grad lives through this framework and Stafford says GEAR UP will help enhance this to ensure student success after high school.
Through their life ready, career connected framework the school has already established Student Career Services. Leslie Bradley serves as the director for the whole district, which includes Vienna and Dongola plus their five feeder schools.
With GEAR UP the school will be able to hire a coordinator for the new program to help bolster their efforts to ensure student success.
"We're realizing that one person for five junior highs and a high school, just isn't really adequate enough or have enough minutes in a day to meet that need," said Stafford. "So as we've expanded, the enhancement that GEAR UP is going to bring is that additional staff person to really continue to build on the foundation that's already been set."
GEAR UP will give them more of what Stafford calls man-power.
Stafford says that at the end of the day, he wants students to have a plan and if things don't end up working out as planned, they have a contact right in their community that can help.
He says that being life ready and career connected can help ensure a student success for the rest of their life.
"We know that if our kids are life ready and career connected it breaks poverty cycles, it changes the trajectories of, not just individuals, but families. Which changes the trajectory of an entire community," said Stafford.
Those interested in applying for the coordinator position can send a resume to apply@viennahs.com or read more at https://www.viennahighschool.com/page/employment-opportunities.
