Livingston Academy is taking its rising juniors and seniors across the state for college exploration.
Gear Up Coordinator Vanessa Farris said that starting June 1, students will get a chance to visit ETSU, UT-Knoxville, MTSU and private colleges. Farris said these visits have not happened during the pandemic but now campuses are opening up.
“Whenever they can eat in the cafeteria, talk to a professor, even attend a sporting event, they can see themselves becoming a college student,” Farris said. “There’s a certain visualization that goes on and so mentally they’re like, ‘oh, I could be a college student.”
Farris said they will of course visit Upper Cumberland colleges like TCAT and Tennessee Tech. She said students can sign up and pick which schools they want to visit on the Gear Up-Overton County Schools Facebook page.
“The Gear Up program is a federal grant program that we were lucky enough to get in Overton County back a few years ago,” Farris said. “It is designed to increase the number of students who graduate high school ready to enter and succeed in post-secondary education.”
Farris said that visiting a campus is the best way for a high school student to learn about college.
“There’s a certain magic in getting to step foot on campus and hear things from the college professionals,” Farris said. “So we really enjoy college visits. Of course for the last year we haven’t been able to do many of those due to COVID. We have certainly done virtual college visits and they are better than no visit at all but certainly don’t feel the same.”
Farris said they will be visiting colleges from June 1-June 11, taking buses from Livingston Academy each morning. She said that meals will be provided for students and they will try and eat on campus when possible.
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