GEAR UP Waco to Award $77,000 in College Scholarships to Waco ISD Students

GEAR UP Waco will award $77,000 in college scholarships to 27 Waco ISD students (eight from each Waco ISD high school, including $2,000 in scholarship awards to STARS students), during the second annual GEAR UP Champions Scholarship reception at 6:30 p.m., Wednesday, May 31, at the Harrington House on the Baylor University campus.

Pat Atkins, president of the WISD school board, will be the guest speaker at the reception and will assist in the awards ceremony.

GEAR UP Waco established the scholarships to help build a bridge between the students' hard work in high school and their dreams of a college education. GEAR UP Waco will award three $5,000 scholarships, five $2,000 scholarships to students from each Waco ISD high school campus, one $1,000 scholarship, and two $500 scholarships to STARS students.

The GEAR UP Waco partnership, currently consisting of Baylor, Texas State Technical College, Making Collaboration for Youth Count (MCYC), the Waco Independent School District and the Waco Foundation, has made considerable strides over the past seven years to become a community catalyst for educational change and a leader in college access and awareness both locally and nationally. GEAR UP Waco is currently impacting more 7,000 WISD students in grades 6-12.

As a direct result of GEAR UP Waco's involvement, more than 73% of students in WISD secondary schools feel they are excellent or good students. Moreover, an impressive 85.5% of cohort students report they will go to college and 24.7% of those students state they will continue on to graduate school.

Available for interviews at the GEAR UP Waco Champions Scholarship Reception: scholarship recipients and parents, Pat Atkins(WISD school board president 05-06), Crystal Anthony (Interim Director GEAR UP Waco), GEAR UP Waco partners, GEAR UP staff, Dominique McAdoo (2005 GEAR UP scholarship recipient), and community members.

For more information, contact Crystal Anthony, interim director of GEAR UP Waco, at (254) 710-3721.