ABOUT US
WHAT IS NEVADA STATE GEAR UP?
Nevada State GEAR UP (Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs) is a federally funded grant that is designed to increase the number of low-income students who are prepared to enter and succeed in postsecondary education. School selection is based on a federally free or reduced lunch rate of 50% or higher. Generally, students are identified as GEAR UP during their 7th grade year and exposed to GEAR UP activities that continue through high school and their first year of college at a Nevada System of Higher Education institution. At its height, the Nevada State GEAR UP grant supported 21 high schools, a robotics program, a longitudinal study, and the UNR Dean’s Future Scholars (DFS) program. This translated into approximately 5,500 students included in Nevada State GEAR UP programming.
View the 2020-2021 Abstracts for GEAR UP Schools and higher education: High Schools and Higher Education Abstracts
View the NDE school abstracts through Nevada Report Card here: Nevada Accountability Portal
STATE OR PARTNERSHIP GRANT
There are two types of GEAR UP grants, a state grant and a partnership grant. The state grant typically has a scholarship component and partnership grant does not. For the current Nevada State GEAR UP grant, Nevada received a waiver to the scholarship component. Although, this state grant will not have a federally funded scholarship component, a project objective is to identify scholarship sponsors throughout the duration of the grant.
Our project, Nevada State GEAR UP, which is highlighted throughout this website, is classified as a state grant. For more information about partnership GEAR UP grants in Nevada, please visit UNLV Center for Academic Enrichment & Outreach (CAEO).
NEVADA STATE GEAR UP GOALS
- GOAL 1: Increase the rate of high school graduation and enrollment in postsecondary education for Nevada GEAR UP students.
- Objective 1.1 Increase student academic performance in mathematics.
- Objective 1.2: Increase high school graduation rates for Nevada GEAR UP students.
- GOAL 2: Increase the number of Nevada GEAR UP students who are prepared to enter and succeed in postsecondary education.
- Objective 2.1: Increase postsecondary enrollment rates for Nevada GEAR UP students.
- GOAL 3: Increase Nevada GEAR UP students’ and families’ knowledge of postsecondary education options, preparation, and financing.
- Objective 3.1: Increase student’s expectations and knowledge of postsecondary education options, preparation, and financing.
- Objective 3.2: Increase parent’s expectations and knowledge of postsecondary education options, preparation, and financing.
Morgan Haynes
College of Southern Nevada (CSN) GEAR UP First Year Advisor
Email: morgan.haynes@csn.edu
School website: https://www.csn.edu/
Hometown: Dallas, Texas
Jairon Castellanos-Boteo
Truckee Meadows Community College (TMCC) GEAR UP First Year Advisor
Email: jcastellanosboteo@tmcc.edu
School website: https://www.tmcc.edu/recruitment-access-center/gear-up
Hometown: San José Acatempa, Guatemala
Akyra Ford
Great Basin College (GBC) GEAR UP First Year Advisor
Email: akyra.ford@gbcnv.edu
School website: https://www.gbcnv.edu/
Hometown: Las Vegas, NV
VACANT
Nevada State University (NSU) GEAR UP First Year Advisor
Email:
School website: https://nevadastate.edu/
Hometown:
Katherine Burdick
University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) GEAR UP First Year Advisor
Email: katherine.burdick@unlv.edu
School website: https://www.unlv.edu/
Hometown: Inglewood, CA
Tawnie D'Angelo
Western Nevada College (WNC) GEAR UP First Year Advisor
Email: tawnie.wentz@wnc.edu
School website: https://www.wnc.edu/high-school-programs/gear-up-nevada/
Hometown: Minden, Nevada
Kinsey Minter
University of Nevada, Reno (UNR) GEAR UP First Year Advisor
Email: kminter@unr.edu
School website: https://www.unr.edu/
Hometown: Glendale, AZ
Dean’s Future Scholars
UNR + Washoe County School District
GEAR UP ASPIRE Scholars Program
Nicole Stella
Director, GEAR UP ASPIRE Scholars Program
Email: nicole.stella@unlv.edu
Hometown: Monrovia, California
Clark County
Vacant
Nevada GEAR UP Specialist – Clark High School
Email: @nv.ccsd.net
Website: https://www.clarkchargers.org/
Hometown:
Amanda Tapia
Nevada GEAR UP Specialist – Bonanza High School
Email: kohleam@nv.ccsd.net
Website: https://www.bonanzabengals.org/
Hometown: Las Vegas, Nevada
Vannessa Apo
Nevada GEAR UP Specialist – Bonanza High School
Email: apovc@nv.ccsd.net
Website: https://www.bonanzabengals.org/
Hometown: Woodbridge, Virginia
Shannon Smith
Nevada GEAR UP Specialist – Clark High School
Email: smithsl@nv.ccsd.net
Website: https://www.clarkchargers.org/
Hometown: Whitefish, Montana
Rita Kundanani
Nevada GEAR UP Specialist – Durango High School
Email: kundarm@nv.ccsd.net
Website: https://www.durangohighschool.net/
Hometown: Las Vegas, NV
Nye County
Jennifer Hagstrom
Nevada GEAR UP Specialist – Pahrump Valley High School
Email: jhagstrom@nyeschools.org
School website: https://pvalley-hs.nye.k12.nv.us/
Hometown: Cadillac, Michigan
Yulissa Castillo
GEAR UP Facilitator – Pahrump Valley High School
Email: ycastillo@nyeschools.org
School website: https://pvalley-hs.nye.k12.nv.us/
Hometown: Pahrump, Nevada
Destiney Duff
Nevada GEAR UP Facilitator – Pahrump Valley High School
Email: dduff@nyeschools.org
School website: https://pvalley-hs.nye.k12.nv.us/
Hometown: Pahrump, Nevada
Mineral County
Kristy Bekiares
GEAR UP Specialist – Mineral County High School
Email: bekiares.kristy@nvmcsd.org
School website: https://mchs.nvmcsd.org/
Hometown: Shurz, Nevada
Arian Katsimbras
Education Programs Professional
Email: arian.katsimbras@doe.nv.gov
Hometown: Reno, NV
Javier Smith
Education Programs Professional
Email: javier.smith@doe.nv.gov
Hometown: Chicago, IL
Vacant
Education Programs Professional
Email:
Hometown:
Josh Loftis
GEAR UP Administrative Assistant
Renée Davis
NSHE Assistant Vice Chancellor of Academic and Student Affairs/Director of Student Affairs
Email: rdavis@nshe.nevada.edu
Hometown: Minden, NV
Janet Stake
NSHE GEAR UP Director of Programming and Outreach
Email: jstake@nshe.nevada.edu
Hometown: Towaco, NJ
