Blackburn Institute

Courtney McGowan ‘03 featured in Tuscaloosa News for work with GEAR UP

January 27, 2006

The following article appeared in the Tuscaloosa News, January 15, 2006.

Ready for life after graduation?
GEAR UP promotes academic success for low-income students
By Jamon Smith, Staff Writer

TUSCALOOSA | For Courtney McGowan, volunteering with teenagers is more than just an extracurricular activity.

It’s personal. And it’s a calling from God, he says.

“I feel like it’s my responsibility because I don’t owe myself any credit for getting where I’ve gotten today,” said McGowan, a 21-year-old Birmingham native and University of Alabama senior majoring in economics and political science. “I’ve gotten where I am today because of my parents and people that have helped and mentored me along the way.”

McGowan is a volunteer with Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs, otherwise known as GEAR UP.

GEAR UP is a national program that serves more than 2 million students.

The program was brought to Tuscaloosa in 2000, when the United States Department of Education provided a grant to program that was matched by UA, Shelton State Community College, the Tuscaloosa County School System and Tuscaloosa One Place Family Resource Center.

The program’s purpose is to promote academic success for low-income high school students and help prepare them for life after graduation, primarily a postsecondary education.

“We encourage our students at Davis-Emerson Middle School and Holt High School to graduate from High School and go to college, be it a four year university or a community college,” said Kathleen Hughes, manager for GEAR UP.

“Through our volunteers, who we need more of, we help students study, take them on field trips, give them fun incentives for academic achievement and most importantly, spend time with them,” she said. “The time we spend with them really seems to be what helps them stay on track.”

The program also utilizes various workshops, career fairs, cultural arts and crafts, college visits, motivational speakers and educational seminars on how to get financial assistance for college.

“If I don’t volunteer, then who will?” McGowan said. “These kids will be members of society in a few years. They’ll be my co-workers. This is our society and my community, and I care about it’s future. And these kids are its future.”

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