Five Ways to Prepare for 7th-Year Programming
We recently had the opportunity to sit down with Lois Bramwell, Janicia Centeno-Castillo, and Sharon Yamada of the GEAR UP for Los Angeles grant to learn more about how to prepare to execute a quality 7th-year programming plan.
Together, the GEAR UP 4 LA team designed and launched their first 7th-year programming with their 2017 graduates. Recently, they reflected on their preparation for the program, the lessons learned during their first grant, and how they stay motivated.
1. Start with the Historical Data to Determine Supports
To prepare for 7th-year, Janicia researched the historical data about where students from their district had traditionally gone to college, and used that to determine which institutions they should establish contact with to best support their students.
There are challenges in figuring out how to support students without knowing how many of them will go to college. The Los Angeles team ended up having 1,300 students going to college, but even out of that group, it’s important to remember that each student is different — having 1,300 kids means that they each have 1,300 different stories and 1,300 different needs. Meeting these needs and preventing summer melt requires an agile team, and they decided on tiers of support that would help them determine what kind of assistance students needed to succeed.
2. Keep a Growth Mindset
One of the challenges of launching a 7th-year program is that there is no time to practice. The grant is a good road map, but as they started the program, the team found that they didn’t know what they didn’t know, and they had to be quick on their feet. Right when they thought they had something figured out, they had to research a new solution, regroup, and adjust their strategies to meet their students’ needs.
The team knew that not every student in the first group would benefit from the program because of the learning curve, but that their impact would only be increased over time as they improved. The Los Angeles team noted that GEAR UP offers a unique opportunity to akin to running a nonprofit, work outside the box, and innovate in ways that support their local student population.
2. The Year 7 Begins in Year 5
GEAR UP 4 LA waited until their students were seniors to prepare for Year 7 programming, then realized that was too late. Instead, they decided that preparation should begin in Year 5. They experimented with different ways of engagement — for example, texting students and contacting certain students with personalized support. Programmatically and operationally, they are trying different combinations of strategies and different dosages of these strategies for the new grant.
The team learned it is important to understand the challenges students will face along the road so that they can work backwards and help the students develop the skills they will need for this self-sufficiency. A big part of their work was building up kids’ confidence — students needed to learn how to get over obstacles and believe that they could, otherwise minor setbacks could trip them up. The sooner this resilience was built up, the more prepared students were for the setbacks they could encounter in college.
4. Maintain Relationships
Lois, Sharon, and Janicia found that it is best to “go slow to go fast” — in other words, take the time early on to establish relationships and build a solid foundation so that progress can move quickly later. Relationship-building is a huge part of what GEAR UP is all about, and the team learned that this aspect of the grant is just as important in the 7th year.
There are waves when students needed more support, for example, during the summer before college, FAFSA season, and finals. Their first year with the grant, the Los Angeles team hired new advisors to support the 7th year students during these high-stress times, but found that developing new relationships takes time.
For their 2020 graduates, GEAR UP 4 LA will use their existing staff to support the college-bound students, which will take advantage of the relationships they have built over the years. However, this brings the risk of overburdening staff members and the challenge of budgeting for overtime, both obstacles that the team will have to keep in mind during this grant.
The team also found that students being able to contact a GEAR UP worker in person helped maintain a connection, so making counselors and advisors available during the summer by using billable hours and hiring Wendy at the California State LA campus was beneficial.
5. Stay Motivated With Core Values
Working the GEAR Up program has its highs and lows. The Los Angeles team always keeps their core values in mind: social justice and equity. All the team members came to GEAR UP to serve its mission of improving college access, and staying connected to this motivates them even when the work is challenging.
Lois likes a good fight for a cause she believes in. Janicia likes to celebrate the small wins and know that she is doing significant work. Sharon likes to stay connected to the students even when they are not on the same campus. They all enjoy meeting kids and parents and hearing about how families have felt the impact of their work. Ultimately, the team stays motivated by staying true to their core values and their commitment to making GEAR UP work.
Recommended reading:
● Summer Melt: Supporting Low-Income Students Through the Transition to College by Benjamin L. Castleman and Lindsay C. Page
● Ready, Willing, amd Able: the Developmental Approach to College Access by Mandy Savitz-Romer and Suzanne Bouffard
