On January 7th GEAR UP hosted a FAFSA night for students and parents at Columbia High School. Approximately a third of our seniors and their parents showed up despite the cold and windy weather
experienced that day. Hearing about the event, and excited to get an early start on the college process, we also had quite a few juniors show up with their parents. Families were first treated to dinner from
Fiesta Mexican Restaurant which received much thanks and praise from the parents and students. After the families grabbed their plates, they settled in for a presentation by our Student Achievement
Specialist (SAS), Rick Copeland. He started with the very basics of what the FAFSA is and then proceeded to go into detail about the FAFSA and stressed the importance of filling it out. After the presentation
concluded, both the Site Director, Julianne Hedden, and SAS were available for a period of question and answers. The evening concluded with GEAR UP opening the computer lab allowing parents and students
to fill out the FAFSA online that night with any needed assistance from the GEAR UP staff. Columbia’s 2nd Annual FAFSA Night was definitely a huge success in helping us to continue to build relationships within
our community and ensuring that our students strive to continue their education beyond high school.