Page 4 - STRIDES MAGAZINE

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A MAGAZINE OF THE BRONX INSTITUTE
www.TheBronxInstitute.org
William Gagstetter, Principal, Kingsbridge International High School
How do you feel GEAR UP has helped your school?
“The GEAR UP program has given our students so many opportunities. It has provided them with support programs both in-house and outside of the school. Our students now have more experience and information when it comes to college readiness and college awareness. We wouldn’t have been able to finance the college trips, college fairs, and programs, like workshops with their partner organizations and SAT Prep classes, that GEAR UP managed to make happen.”
Why is going to college so important?
“Research shows that college graduates make more money and are more successful throughout their lives. Programs like GEAR UP make our students more aware of college options and that is especially useful for our students who are new arrivals to the country. Students who aren’t born here face a multitude of challenges. They have to adapt to the American way of schooling and learn English at the same time. Some students don’t know much about the college process until they visit college fairs and talk to college representatives.”
What advice would you give to students that are getting ready for college?
“My first piece of advice for students who are getting ready for college is to start early. The earlier you begin the process, the less stressful the whole process will be. The second would to be to keep an open mind. Don’t anchor yourself to one particular college or field of study. There are so many options out there, many of which offer financial support. My third piece of advice would be to ask questions. When I was in school, both of my parents hadn’t gone to college. I had to go to my guidance counselor for help from 9th grade to the end of high school. Finally, I encourage all of my students to always be kind. Many times, students find cliques that they latch on to. However, learning to embrace everyone for who they are will take you much farther in life.”
What would you say to a student that was interested in GEAR UP?
“I feel like the best way to interest a student in GEAR UP would be to let them talk to a student who is already in the program. Just having them talk about what they’re learning and how many new friends they’re making would be more important to the student than anything I could say.”
Rachel Tatis,
11th grade,
Kingsbridge International High School
What would you say GEAR UP has done for you?
“Since I joined the GEAR
UP program, my skills as a
thinker have increased.
The level of education and
knowledge I get is greater
than in my average classes.
Before I started learning
from GEAR UP about college,
there were many things about
going that I didn’t know, and I
was afraid of it as a result. Attending GEAR UP gives me hope that
my dream can be a reality, and makes me comfortable trying to achieve it. I want to be a pediatrician, since I love babies and interacting with fellow human beings. GEAR UP makes me feel like people, even immigrants, can have opportunities no matter what your station in life is.”
What was your favorite activity that you’ve done in GEAR UP? Can you describe it for us?
“My favorite activity I did in GEAR UP was making the water tower out of wooden sticks. You had to make it as strong as you could, because the teacher would put books on it to test how many it could hold. As you work with other people, everyone sees things differently, so you have to try to understand them and recognize their opinions. Our water tower ended up holding 96.5 pounds of books. We used 206 sticks in total and the tower was 10 centimeters tall, 5 centimeters wide. We built it over the course of three Saturdays and it was a lot of fun. Also, the Fordham college fair I went to had plenty of pamphlets with a lot of information and people you could talk to about different colleges. I hope the next one I go to has Columbia there since that’s the college I want to go to the most.”
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