James S. wood / arizona daily star

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More than 3,600 eighth-graders, most living on the South Side, are in the second year of six-year program that gives them millions of dollars worth of support that many children in the United States would be lucky to have.

The educational perks that will follow students through high school — tutoring, University of Arizona student mentors, regular trips to the UA and Pima Community College — are all possible through Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs, better known as GEAR UP.

The Tucson GEAR UP project is funded by a $9.36 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education awarded to the UA, Tucson Unified and Sunnyside school districts in 2005.

GEAR UP's objective: to get at least 65 percent of the students from 14 TUSD and Sunnyside middle schools into higher education and ensure their success there.

That means placing each student on a college track, starting in sixth grade, said Nancy Singer, who directs GEAR UP locally through the UA's Office of Early Academic Outreach.

"It's our goal to change the culture of the neighborhoods and the classrooms and school campuses that we're working with," Singer said. "If you build up enough mass, it can change people's perceptions and our goal is to create a college-going culture, because in some of our schools it's not cool to be smart. We want to change that."

On Wednesday, selected GEAR UP students recorded songs they wrote about the UA's Mars Lander project at the University Services Annex, 220 W. Sixth St.

Funding also pays for professional development for teachers and parent workshops to help them get their kids into college.

"If the family doesn't know that they need to go into the high school and tell counselors they want their student on the college track, their student might end up on a track simply to graduate and that's not good enough," Singer said.

For Valencia Middle School's Emily Watson, the project provided extra motivation to stand up for what she believed in.

While taking a math test, about a month ago, Emily, 13, refused to complete her exam.

"I didn't think I should be graded on something I hadn't even been taught," she said. "I never talk back, that's not for me and I was really scared, but the teacher after a while saw my point of view and said 'OK.' And I knew my family would support me and GEAR UP — they always believe in me."

Emily hadn't been taught the material because her class had no math teacher, she said. Instead a rotation of teachers taught the math class during their planning periods.

About two weeks ago, Emily's class got their math teacher, Aaron Richards, she said.

Richards and Valencia Middle School's Sandra Suarez-Hairgrove are working with students and GEAR UP tutors to get Emily's class up to speed.

"College is not an option for me," Emily said. "I've got my mind set on it and I'm going to do it."

south side