GEAR UP Achieve

New year, new goals, and BIG opportunities ahead! GEAR UP Achieve is excited to welcome our students back for another year of learning, growing, exploring, and getting one step closer to their dreams! 🎓💫

Let’s make this school year one to remember!

STEM in Action! GEAR UP Achieve Region 8 School Liaison, Shannon Luster and Region 11 School Liaison, Susan Hudspeth, had a great time at the NSBE Montgomery Professionals Engineering Day at Morningview Elementary School! Students designed and built boats, then competed to see which could hold the most pennies before sinking.

The winning boat held 48 pennies! We loved seeing students come back again and again to build, test, and improve their designs!

We're gearing up for a great school year!

GEAR UP Achieve Region 11 School Liaison Susan Hudspeth was on hand for Hillcrest High School's Open House, welcoming the in-coming 10th grade class with information about what to expect in the coming semesters.

We are excited to share an incredible STEM opportunity for K–12 students! NSBE Montgomery Professionals is hosting Engineering Day 2026 on Saturday, August 15, 2026, from 10:00 AM–1:00 PM at Morningview Elementary School in Montgomery, Alabama.

Students will have the opportunity to participate in hands-on STEM activities, experience exciting demonstrations, explore engineering, technology, and innovation, enjoy free food, fun, and prizes, and connect with STEM professionals to learn about future career opportunities.

We are especially excited that Shannon Luster, Region 8 School Liaison, has been invited to set up a table at the event! This will be a wonderful opportunity to connect with students and families and share information about the exciting opportunities available through GEAR UP Achieve.

Saturday, August 15, 2026
10:00 AM–1:00 PM
Morningview Elementary School
2849 Pelzer Ave., Montgomery, AL 36109

If you have a student interested in STEM, engineering, technology, or just loves to learn and explore, this is an event you won't want to miss!

Teachers across GEAR UP Achieve Region 3 in Jackson County recently participated in two professional development sessions during the Elevate PD Day at the Kevin Dukes Career and Innovation Center.

The sessions, "Small Habits, Powerful Classrooms" and "Educator Wellness and Resilience," provided practical strategies to enhance classroom effectiveness while emphasizing the importance of educator well-being led by Learning Little People, LLC's Dr. Erica Jewel Littleton and Ms. Camille Underwood.

GEAR UP Achieve Region 8 School Liaison Shannon Luster partnered with Bailey Education Group to provide a professional development session at Lowndes Central High School on August 4. Faculty and staff members attended a session on writing lesson plans for the block schedule and also participated in small group exercises to write a sample lesson plan to be implemented in the 2026-27 school year.

Parents and students at Wilcox Central High School recently attended a Back to School Open House event where they participated in a fun raffle game, collected student schedules, visited with teachers and visited a GEAR UP Achieve Information table to gather back to school information. Region 8 School Liaison Shannon Luster provided students and parents with information on the GEAR UP Achieve Region 8 Newsletter, free ACT Prep Programs and a Parent/Student College Planning Guide.

Last month, GEAR UP Achieve sent a delegation of staff, students and parent chaperones to Washington, D.C. to participate in the NCCEP / GEAR UP Annual Conference. The conference brings together professionals, parents, students, policymakers and community partners who support GEAR UP from across the country.

Shout out to students Cerena Jones and Tyress Thomas for participating in the conference's Youth Leadership Summit! We're proud of you both for representing the more than 6,000 GEAR UP Achieve students from across Alabama!

Students at Region 11's Hillcrest High School participated in a community service project to help beautify their school campus. Students cleaned the school sign at the entrance, refreshed the HHS letters located at the top of the hill, and picked up litter throughout the campus.

Mr. Jarrod Thomas helped coordinate and worked alongside the students during the project. Susan Hudspeth, GEAR UP Achieve School Liaison, and Ryan Coleman, Success Coach at Reid State Community College, also assisted the students throughout the community service project.