In April, Great Basin College hosted a campus visit for 19 seventh and eighth grade students along with a few chaperones from McDermitt Combined School.
The students are part of the grant-supported Nevada GEAR UP program, which stands for Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs. Some of the main goals for the Nevada State GEAR UP program are to increase the families' knowledge of postsecondary education options, financial awareness, and creating a college-going culture.
As a means to fulfill these goals, the GEAR UP program has established a network of people that provide direct student support, such as the GEAR UP Ambassadors that are located in seven of the Nevada institutions and SPIFs (Student-Parent Involvement Facilitators) that are located in the junior high schools.
The campus visit consisted of an introduction to GBC from Lynn Mahlberg, vice president for Student Services, along with lunch, a tour of the student housing, and a drone presentation from UNR's Cooperative Extension. During the drone presentation, students were able to breakup into groups of two and took turns flying the drones. Then Wells Fargo conducted a finance presentation that encouraged the students to begin saving for their future, becoming more financially aware and to compare prices to get the best deal available when purchasing large items, such as a smartphone, laptop, etc.
The field trip ended with a campus tour that highlighted the library, types of degrees GBC offers, career opportunities in related fields of study, participation in an IAV (Interactive Video) class, importance of getting good grades, along with the various programs and learning labs GBC has, such as Nursing. The students had a fun and enjoyable time on their field trip and were pleased and excited to hear about all the great educational opportunities that GBC has to offer.
For inquiries regarding GEAR UP, contact Cassandra Stahlke, GBC's GEAR UP Ambassador, at (775) 753-2399.
Great Basin College is a member of the Nevada System of Higher Education and governed by the Board of Regents. The college is regionally accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities.[[In-content Ad]]
