Original Post Date: December 10, 2021

As prior GEAR UP coordinators we, Danielle Walker, and I, know the challenges and inspiration that you face every day. The hardest part of joining the NCCEP team was leaving our students and families. But we brought with us a unique coordinator perspective that we apply to our daily work. Over the past year NCCEP has created ample initiatives to address the professional development and support needs of GEAR UP coordinators. With the addition of multiple Study Lab courses, the inaugural class of the Coordinators Learning Lab, the On the Ground Podcast, and now the recently released Coordinators Toolkit – we know that the future is bright for our community’s coordinators. 

Coordinator Focused Study Lab Courses

Explore Study Lab Courses based off your role as a GEAR UP Coordinator. The options include everything from micromodules on professional skills and GEAR UP match to full courses on design thinking and collaboration. 

The Coordinators Learning Lab

The Coordinator Learning Lab is a cohort-based professional development program for the GEAR UP community that offers a place for Coordinators to come together and explore the common challenges facing GEAR UP Practitioners. Join us in congratulating the inaugural cohort of the Coordinators Learning Lab! 

• Alejandra Gonzalez – GEAR UP University of California Irvine

• Benjamin Breault – GEAR UP Manchester

• Brooke Watts – GEAR UP Wyoming

• Djelani Hamm – GEAR UP 4 LA

• Donovan Stewart – Nevada GEAR UP

• Erica McCaughey – GEAR UP Oklahoma

• Gary Campbell – GEAR UP Oregon 

• Jacqueline Bush – GEAR UP Oklahoma

• Jacqueline Norton – GEAR UP Georgia

• James Edwards – GEAR UP Eastern New Mexico University Roswell

• Jasmine Dean – Arizona State University GEAR UP

• Javier Rivera – GEAR UP Eastern New Mexico University Roswell

• Jessica Gracia – University of Texas, Rio Grande Valley GEAR UP

• Jocelyne Perez – GEAR UP University of California Irvine

• Juan Nevarez – GEAR UP Eastern New Mexico University Roswell

• Lilit Azarian – GEAR UP 4 LA

• Maria Perez – University of Texas, Rio Grande Valley GEAR UP

• Michelle Sanchez – GEAR UP 4 LA

• Ricardo Villa – Arizona State University GEAR UP

• Steffani DiPierro – GU Rome (MVCC)

• Susan Snelling – GEAR UP Oregon

• Tanya Smith – Nevada GEAR UP

• Viviana Rendon – University of Texas, Rio Grande Valley GEAR UP

NCCEP’s On the Ground Podcast

Every month, coordinators and others in the GEAR UP community explain the challenges and triumphs they experience everyday. Stories that matter to you, told by you. With podcast episodes on topics like our favorite reads, National GEAR UP Week, supporting students, and coming soon: data, there is sure to be a podcast episode for your morning commute. 

The Coordinators Toolkit 

As a part of our Toolkit series roll out, we have released a new toolkit! NCCEP’s Coordinator Toolkit is a resource for GEAR UP practitioners supporting program development and implementation, providing direct services to school sites, and collecting and managing student data. Explore this toolkit here and lookout for regular updates and additions to this new resource!  

We are excited for all that 2022 holds including new Study Lab courses, a new class for the Coordinators Learning Lab, new podcast episodes, and opportunities to continue to build out and update the Coordinators Toolkit. Let us know what else you hope to see for GEAR UP Coordinators in 2022!