nygearup.syr.eduAugust 4- 11, 2010

PRSRT STDUS PO

STAGE PAID

SYRACUSE, NY Perm

it # 1672

NY GEARUP takes on

Washington, D.C....... 4 & 5

DarriusFord

Artwork by

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The New York State Higher Education Services Corporation (HESC) is the state agency that has been designated by the Governor’s office to administer the NY

GEARUP Program. Funding for NY GEARUP is provided by a grant from the U.S. Depart-

ment of Education. NY GEARUP at Syracuse University

receives $567,000 in funding that is matched 100 percent by in-kind services for a total

funding of $1,340,000.HESC helps people pay for college by

providing a comprehensive range of financial aid services, including the Tuition Assistance Program, guaranteeing student loans, and

administering the nationally recognized New York’s College Savings Plan.

New York State is a leader in the national financial aid community, providing more grant

money to college students than any other state.

STAFFMarissa Joy Mims

Director

Marilyn J. Grab Budget Director

Nikolas Allen Office Coordinator

Tammy Toellner Program Coordinator for Fowler

and Corcoran High Schools

Lynn Dew Program Coordinator for Nottingham High School

Kelina ImamuraMedia Editor

Carolyn ClarkWriting Program Coordinator

Mariel FiedlerWriting Program Coordinator,

Radio show Coordinator

Caitlin DonnellyEagle Newspapers Editor

What is NY GEARUP?NY GEARUP is based out of Syracuse University’s School of Education. NY GEARUP works in the Syracuse City School District with the class of 2011 at Corcoran, Fowler, Henninger, ITC and Nottingham high schools.

GEARUP stands for Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs. It’s a national initiative to create innovative programs with the goal of increasing college awareness for students and their families. GEARUP also helps students develop the skills necessary to pursue education after high school.

To achieve its mission, NY GEARUP organizes college visits, tutoring and mentoring, college awareness and exploration activites, and educational planning and workshops.

Table of contentsMessage from the Director......................... 2Calendar............................. 3D.C. trip recap.....................4D.C. recap and photos...... 5For the parents.................... 6Artwork by Darrius Ford..... 7College of the week.......... 8

Interested in Writing?For those students in the NY GEA-

RUP program that are graduating in 2011 and are interested in writing for Eagle Newspaper’s NY GEARUP edi-tion, please contact Caitlin Donnelly at cdonnelly@cnylink.com.

NYGEARUP@syr.eduPhone 443.7848

Twitter: NYGEARUPFacebook: NYGEARUP@

Syracuse UniversityRadio: StepIt UP! on Power106.9

Contact us:

Message from the

Director

ON THE COVER:

Miles Minniatt,, from Henninger High School, poses with a folk dancer in Washington, D.C. The NY GEARUP group was passing through a park and discovered a group with folk arts and dancing. It was just one of many adventures the NY GEARUP staff and students had while on their D.C. trip.

Greetings from NY GEARUP,As the new school year rapidly

approaches, I am looking forward to supporting our cohort through their last year of high school. This will be an exciting time for the students as they plan for college, the military, jobs and many other post-graduation plans. We will be here to support them with financial aid workshops, essay writing, and assistance with completing college applications.

Equally important to us this year are the students not on target to graduate. We will be calling stu-dents in our cohort during August who have dropped out of high school to find out how we can help them finish their education. I am calling together a task force of representa-tives from the Syracuse City School District, community agencies, and former students to develop an out-reach strategy.

We are expanding our radio show to include a parent component. If you are a parent of a student on our cohort and interested in being in-

volved with the show, please give me a call. This fall we will be including call-in sessions for parents to have your questions about the college admissions process answered. Look for discussion sessions with parents on a host of issues related to tran-sitioning your student to college, learning disabilities, graduation requirements and special challenges (failing grades, regents, keeping kids focused).

The Syracuse City School District has a large refugee and ESL popula-tion. One of the things that we can do better is to reach out to members of our cohort in these groups using materials in their native languages. We may not be able to accommodate everyone, but we will be working with local organizations to develop as many materials as possible. I am very excited about the project ideas our students brought back from out national conference in Washington, D.C. They were quite the journalists as they sought out interviews and recorded their thoughts for both the radio show

and these pages. These are exciting times around

here. We look forward to sharing them with you.

MARISSA J. MIMS

NY GEARUP, AUGUst 4, �010 /�

JULY

SEPTEMBER

PAR

EN

TS

CALENDAR

• Take advantage of summer break and visit colleges on your child’s list. Call ahead for the campus tour schedule. Arrange to meet with a financial aid representative. Your child should (if necessary) schedule an on-campus interview with the admissions office.• Your child should finalize his/her list of colleges. Be sure your child’s list includes “safety” schools, as well as good “match” and “reach” schools. Request college applications and informational packets. Organize materials into separate files by college.• Keep a college calendar of all admissions deadlines.• If your child took AP Exams in May, scores will be avalibale in July.• Make sure to register your child early for fall SAT tests.

• Enroll in an SAT prep course.• Talk to your guidance counselor about colleges you might like to attend. He or she may have information available to help you develop a plan to get there.• Investigate financial aid opportunities: scholarships, grants, and loans.• SAT registration deadline for the October 9 test is September 10. Register early.• Collect all the information you can from those colleges you are interested in. Attend college open houses if possible to visit colleges in your area.

• Begin to rank the colleges you think you’d like to attend.• Start to put together your resume. • Organize the information that is likely to be requested on college applications.• Learn about the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid).• Choose courses for your senior year that are challenging and that showcase your academic abilities. • Enroll in AP courses in your best subjects if they are available.• Continue to do your best in your classes.

AUGUST• Request college applications from the admissions office. Or, use College Answer’s Online Application Search to see if your school’s form is online.• Arrange campus visits.• Register to take the SAT/ACT, if necessary. • Continue to search for free money (scholarships and grants) and others ways to pay for school.• Run Sallie Mae’s Free Scholarship Search. • Stay organized: File copies of applications and correspondence. Keep your calendar up-to-date tracking important dates and deadlines.

Parents play an instrumental role in helping your student get into college. Here are some helpful tips:

Calendar content has been compiled by the editor from various sources.

SAT Question of

the Week

Courtesy of Collegeboard.com

Members of the research team were initially so adversarial that _______seemed impossible; the project’s inauspicious start made its final success all the more ________ .

(A) concentration . . incidental

(B) disagreement . . incongruous

(C) collaboration . . predictable

(D) hostility . . dazzling

(E) cooperation . . remarkable

The “adversarial” attitude of the team members would suggest that working together would be quite difficult, or that “cooperation” would be “impossible”; given the project’s bad start, its ultimate success would be “remarkable” because nobody would have expected it.

3(E)

Sentence completion: Fill in the blanks with

the appropriate word(s)

UPCOMING

Look for our fall schedule of activities in our upcoming NY GEARUP publications, including college visits, and a special fall retreat at Syracuse University!

4/ NY GEARUP, AUGUst 4, �010

By Dwayne Britt

Nottingham High School

Washington, D.C., is a beautiful place. There are so many tall build-ings, and they made me feel small because I am only 5 feet 4 inches, after all. I definitely enjoyed myself in D.C, though. They have a lot going on in that city.

Washington has so many differ-ent museums that you can go to: the Newseum, The Holocaust Museum, and the American Indian Museum. Although I wanted to go to see the American Indian Museum, we were able to visit Newseum and the Ho-locaust museums on our trip. The Newseum was an amazing place because it showed how writers and journalists put their lives on hold to get a story. Sometimes they would get too close and end up dead, like Harry Burton, a Reuters journalist, who

was stopped by six men on a road in Afghanistan. The men took Burton and a few others into the mountains and shot them. If you want to know more about journalists like Burton and their bravery, I suggest you to go check out the museum and see why these men and women die to let the world know what’s going on. These writers and journalists don’t die for no reason, because their stories inspire people to do something to stop all the killing and all the hate against others.

The Holocaust Museum was a very emotional time for some of us. We could not believe what we were hearing: Just because you were Jewish, you where discriminated against. The saddest part is that little children were getting killed and they didn’t even have a chance. Everyone was emotional because it’s horrible that one man, Adolf Hitler, could do this to millions of people. He was a

monster. Even though I didn’t cry, I wanted to because I was very sad and angry that nobody did anything to stop this man.

On the other hand, the rest of the time in Washington, D.C., was fun. I met some nice people at the conference I went to with NY GEA-RUP, and I’m glad to say that I had a good time while I was there. There were so many things going on at the conference and so many people. I met a young lady who caught my atten-tion… that was the day that I loved going to conferences. I even got to meet the governor of Rhode Island.

I had one of the best times of my life, and I would do it again if I could.

It’s good to meet new people be-cause you will never know if that per-son you meet at the conference could help you get a job, or even go into business with you one day. I learned to just be open minded because you

have to take chances. If you don’t put yourself out there, you’re not going to make it because nobody in the world can do it alone. There is always something holding you back or something you can’t deal with, so, just go and communicate with others because the next person you meet could be your next boss.

The best part of D.C., I have to say, is that I grew closer to my friends who came on the trip with me. I feel like they’re my family, and I didn’t want to let them go. I was sad when it was time to go home. I loved D.C and I’m going to move there after college because it’s just a well orga-nized city.

The final thing I’m going to say about my trip to D.C. is that I would not have gone if it weren’t for NY GEARUP, so I want to say thank you for making me a better man. I will always remember this trip for the rest of my life.

Museums and conference leave lasting impression

NY GEARUP takes on

Washington, D.C.NY GEARUP students reflect

on their Washington, D.C. trip, where they attended the National Council for Community and Education Partnership/ GEARUP Conference held in Washington, D.C., from July 18 to 21.

NY GEARUP, AUGUst 4, �010 /�

D.C. trip an eye-opening experienceBy Seth Colton

Nottingham High School

The NY GEARUP trip to Washing-ton, D.C., was amazing. We went on several museum visits, visited historic landmarks, and most importantly, took part in the National GEARUP Confer-ence.

During our stay, we went to a handful of museums D.C. had to offer: the New-seum and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. The Newseum had everything in history documented, in-cluding actual artifacts from historic sites. Pieces of the World Trade Center, first editions of inventions through-out history, and even a portion of the Berlin Wall were all there. Also in the Newseum, there is a section that holds front page newspaper articles from im-portant dates dating back to the 1700s! It was some fascinating stuff !

The Holocaust Museum was more of an overwhelming experience than a visit. In the beginning of the introduc-tion tour, we were given identification cards of Jewish people who had lived during that time. At the end of the tour, we were able to see if the person on the card survived during the Holocaust or not. I found out that the little boy on my card survived and went on to become a journalist at The New Yorker.

At the end of the introduction tour, we chose which way through the ex-

hibit we wanted to go based on what we wanted to see. I felt it was important to go through the entire exhibit from start to finish to have a perfect understand-ing on what the Holocaust was and why it happened. The museum housed ac-tual items that Jewish people had from that time period as well as fences, office doors, beds, and other things that they had in the ghettos that the Germans put them in. The Holocaust Museum enabled us to relive the moments of the Jews during that time period as we walked through the exhibit.

During our stay in Washington, D.C., we went to several historic and govern-ment landmarks. On our first day there, we went to what I think is the most im-portant place in the country: the White House. Although we weren’t able to go on the grounds or inside, it felt remarkable to stand as close to it as we were.

I’d have to say that going to Ar-lington National Cemetery was the most memorable and best ex-perience I had the whole trip. Just walking through the cemetery and seeing how many soldiers gave their lives to protect the country really made me appreci-ate their services even more.

What was even more reward-ing was the fact that our GEARUP squad took part in a Wreath Lay-ing Ceremony; something that

ONLY reserved people are able to take part in. It’s a long process, but our staff made sure we were able to be in the ceremony.

The Capitol Building was a very interesting building to visit. On the outside, it seems as an ordinary white building in Washington, but once you get into the building, it’s completely different. There’s a spiral room in the center of the building in which if you look up, there’s a ceiling painting resembling the heavens. The Capitol Building holds several statues of im-portant figures since the beginning of the United States. The statues can be found all around the building, and they’re all from different parts of the country.

Lastly, the GEARUP Conference was

spectacular. Our students were able to interact with other students at the con-ferences, and just meeting new people and learning about their areas of the world is always something remark-able. We all were able to get to know other GEARUP students from different regions; I made a few new friends from New Mexico and Texas. Although we’re from different parts of the country, we could all relate to the importance of education and, not surprisingly, the latest trends among teenagers.

Overall, the trip to Washington, D.C., was a great learning experience and surely each of us, as GEARUP students, learned valuable life lessons from each visit to the different places we went on our stay. The trip was satisfying, rewarding, and eye-opening.

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Students: Focus on being in the here and nowAt a seminar I recently

attended for college admis-sions personnel on the topic of “troubling changes occurring on college campuses,” I was surprised that cell phone usage was of such great concern.

I expected a lecture on binge drinking, self-harm or ballooning counseling service demands. While these topics were ad-dressed, the arguments presented on escalating cell phone usage and the impact on our college students was particularly insightful. Faculty, administrators and student advisors all agree that nonstop cell phone usage is changing the college experience for many students.

A professor lamented the first thing students do when they walk out of class is flip open their cell

phones. Students no longer dis-cuss the material covered in lecture. Instead they check for missed calls. Students are never in the moment.

Administrators attribute rampant cell phone usage with a develop-mental delay in independence and

planning skills. It’s hard to become in-dependent when you are on the phone with people who make decisions for you several times a day. When faced with a dilemma at college, students call their parents and have them handle it. Students do not have the skills to advocate for themselves.

Resident advisors suggest that freshman are taking longer to

bond with fellow classmates, as cell phones keep them connected to fam-ily and high school friends instead of students on campus. Consequently, students confirm a sense of isolation and homesickness, perhaps because they speak to family members daily, often multiple times a day, and have fewer face-to-face conversations with other students or faculty.

So how can we break our college-bound students of their cell phone addiction?

Perhaps parents should consider how often they “check in” with their sons and daughters. After all, aren’t we really calling for our peace of mind, instead of their safety? If the student calls a parent to solve a problem, suggest the resources they should contact, and let them handle it. They will learn more from their mistakes and become more confident in their ability to handle future situa-

tions. Have a conversation with your

child about the drawbacks of staying so connected by phone. No one should need to call or text another person every hour. Perhaps they could learn to plan ahead just a bit.

What do they miss as they speed dial and check messages? Point out that they’ll never know, if they are never focused in the here and now.

COLLEGE DIRECTIONS CNY

7030 E. Genesee St, Fayetteville

315.243.6658collegedirectionscny.com

collegedirectionscny@gmail.com

Study: Teens take big risks onlineA shocking new report “The Secret

Online Lives of Teens” is a revealing peek at just how much our kids risk when they interact online, and one expert believes it’s more than just a wake-up call.

The study, conducted by Harris Interactive for McAfee, asked 955 American teens (including 593 aged 13-15 and 362 aged 16-17) about their attitudes on Internet privacy. The results are troubling for any parents of teenagers:

69 percent of teens freely divulged their physical location. 28 percent chatted with strangers.

Of those who chatted with strang-ers, defined as people they do not know in the offline world:

43 percent shared their first name. 24 percent shared their email address. 18 percent posted photos of them-selves. 12 percent posted their cell phone number

What’s more, girls make themselves

targets more often than boys: 32% of the girl respondents indicated they chat with strangers online vs. 24% of boy respondents, according to the survey.

Mary Kay Hoal, a concerned mom and global media expert who ad-dressed her Internet safety issues by creating a social network exclusively for kids and teens –yoursphere.com – believes that this is more than just a wake-up call for parents and teens.

“This study is Pearl Harbor in the war against Internet predators,” she said. “While the headline always changes from cyber bullies to privacy issues, what remains constant, and will continue to, is the risky behavior teens can participate in. If you don’t want your kids participating in cer-tain behaviors offline, why would you permit them online? If you tell them not to talk to strangers at the mall, why allow it on the Internet? Parents need to take notice now, and they need to

teach their kids about the dangers of predators. It’s very real.”

Hoal has been studying this issue for more than four years, having cre-ated Yoursphere as a response to her own daughter establishing profiles behind her back on social networking sites. Her goal is to create a positive place for kids and teens that offers all the best the Internet has to offer, without the dangers of predators, bullies and others who seek to use the anonymity of the Internet to victimize children.

“As parents, we need to do three things right now,” she said. “We need to learn about the online dangers for kids and teach our kids about them, just as we’d talk to them about drugs, sex, learning to drive a car or ride a bike safely. Next, we need to show our kids how to protect their online and of-fline privacy, so the predators and bul-lies are less capable of taking advan-tage of them. Finally, we need to set

up a set of rules for our kids for their online lives that match their rules for their offline lives. The most effective litmus test is this: If the activity or behavior in question is inappropriate offline, then it is inappropriate online, as well. The combination of anonym-ity and technology that exists online can create a wide variety of hazards for teens, getting in the way of all the good things that exist for them on the Internet. We need to be able to use ba-sic, common sense safety guidelines to help clear that path.”

Mary Kay Hoal faces the same challenges ev-ery parent does. After researching the disturbing landscape of social networking sites — including endless inappropriate content and thousands of predators targeting youth — Mary Kay con-ceived and founded Yoursphere.com, a free and positive place for kids and teens online as well as YoursphereForParents.com, where parents can find tools and information to create a safety-first experience for their families.

‘The Secret Online Lives of Teens’ reveals dangerous behaviors, online trends

Parents

NY GEARUP, AUGUst 4, �010 /�

The artwork of

Darrius

About the artist:Darrius Ford is 17 years old and goes to Nottingham High School. Darrius has been drawing for 10 years, and often finds inspiration from tagging on subway trains and graffiti, which he sees as an art form. While these acts of vandalism catch his eye, he is interested in finding a different venue for the art that is not illegal or stigmatized. It is his brother, Deavon Floyd, who motivates and inspires him to pursue art. Darrius would like to attend Syracuse University and major in interior design. In the future, he would like to be a graphic or interior designer.

Ford

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Be HeardThe Step It Up! staff has settled into a spectacular week-

end routine with its two-hour talk-based show about teen issues, college readiness and NY GEARUP. It’s entertaining and informative for anyone from students to parents and community members.

We’re always looking for people to interview and high school seniors to try their hand in the radio business. If interested, contact Mariel Fiedler at mfiedler@syr.edu

NY GEARUP @ Syracuse UniversityNYGEARUP

315.443.7848 NYGEARUP@syr.edu

CONTACT US

COLLEGE OF THE WEEKAmerican University

Members of the NY GEARUP staff and students visited this week’s college of the week just last week during the conference. American University is located in Washing-ton, D.C. and is known for its School of Com-munication. American has about 6,000 undergraduate students, 3,500 graduate students and 1,600 law stu-dents. There are approxi-mately 650 faculty and staff, and class sizes are 23 students on average.

In 2008, Ameri-can University was named the most politically active school in the coun-try by the Princeton Review, and is con-sidered to be a “best buy” college with its academics and resources being worth the cost.

The university has six schools within it: the College of Arts And Sciences, the Kogod

School of Business, the School of Communication, the School of In-ternational Service, the School of Public Affairs and the Washington College of Law.

The school also has its own student-run television and radio station, but also, like SU, it has a

National Public Radio affiliate attached to the school: WAMU.

American also has one of the most comprehen-sive study abroad pro-grams in the country, where about 59 per-cent of students take courses and intern at over 100 institutions around the world.

Eighty one percent of undergraduate stu-

dents get internships in their field of study before graduation.

The price of American University is high since it is in Washington, D.C. and is a private university, but the school offers financial aid

and scholarships to students who qualify and are in need. The school is also very diverse, with 139 countries and all 50 states repre-sented.

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

The Capitol Building in Washington, D.C., is just a short distance from the American University campus.