Creation of the G.E.A.R U.P. orientation manual

There is a great need for programs which assist students from low income and minority background in having the support and resources to attend and complete college. Gear Up is a program which seeks to meet this need by providing low-income students with scholarships as well as in school and after school tutoring. Although they provide excellent service to their students and East High School, they had a lack of training and orientation materials for their paid and volunteer tutors. It was decided that the creation of a training manual would be an excellent; integrative service project to address this need. A manual was created including information about Gear Up as a program, the needs and risks of the population Gear Up serves, tutoring and mentoring skills. The community partner was pleased with the outcome of the project and made plans to implement its use as a standard training procedure, in the hopes of improving their tutor's understanding of the population and overall tutoring and mentoring skills.