Winter 2015

VT State GEAR UP
newsletter for
parents & partners
VSAC Outreach
Counselors
Clark Amadon
Carl Bayer
Matt “Beagle” Bourgault
Natalie Brennan
Liam Danaher
Holly Hammond
Carrie Harlow
Anne Kaplan
Monda Kelley
Stacey King
Marti Kingsley
Michelle Legault
Heidi McLaughlin
Matt Mitchell
Susie Moakley
Nancy Schwartz
Tia Stillman
Trish Turner-Gill
Ellen Wright
Lindsey Yablonowski
Ask your child who his or her
VSAC outreach counselor is.
Counselors are available to help
you too! For questions, contact
Cathy Printon, Community &
Parent Program Coordinator,
at 802-542-2293 or
[email protected].
GEAR UP &
Talent Search
Federally funded programs
supported in part through
grants from the U.S.
Department of Education
Look. Ask. Listen.
Volume VIII
No. 2
Winter 2015
It’s time again for our winter newsletter. When we send this newsletter out to “parents,” we recognize that every adult who takes the
time to be part of the lives and education of students takes on parenting qualities. We’re grateful for all the adults who care for students.
Feel free to contact us anytime with questions or concerns.
Celebrating with Rusty and Cindy
during GEAR UP Week
We had the great fortune to have two regional celebrities
tour schools with us this fall during National GEAR UP week.
Rusty DeWees and Cindy Pierce visited nearly 20 schools with
a message of creating a healthy circle around yourself, working
for your dreams, and accepting people. The message “we’re all
the same, you and I” encouraged students in the audience to
treat each other with kindness and understanding because we
all sometimes feel sadness, hurt, joy, and happiness.
By telling their stories, Rusty and Cindy shared the trials and tribulations of growing up in
small New England towns, not knowing exactly where their paths would lead, and finding their
passion and talents in the chaos of growing up. While we know Rusty and Cindy as local
humorists, actors, and storytellers (Rusty is from Vermont, and Cindy is from New Hampshire), the
kids know each of them as a neighbor — someone familiar and trustworthy. “You can do anything
you want as long as you have the will and the discipline,” Rusty told the middle school students
as they hung on every word.
National GEAR UP week celebrates the coast-to-coast work of
programs in nearly every state and in Mexico. We thank the
principals, teachers, parents, and especially students who invited us
in and welcomed us with open arms. It was a most spectacular fall
here in Vermont, with blazing colors, warm weather, sunshine, and
the eager faces of students who made a connection and were
encouraged to do what’s in their hearts.
With passion, one can always find direction.
#802grit
Vermont Student
Assistance Corporation
10 East Allen Street
PO Box 2000
Winooski,VT 05404
Toll-free 800-642-3177
In the Burlington area 655-9602
www.vsac.org
[email protected]
In keeping with the messages of our guest speakers throughout the
fall, VSAC has started a #802grit conversation on Twitter. Follow us and keep up with
information, insight, and chats around what it takes to feed that “fire in the belly” and
help nurture our students and children along their paths.
Grit doesn’t mean simply working hard and not giving up. It means more than that. As
a matter of fact, we show grit every day. Grit means getting up and getting to school when
we’d rather stay in bed! Grit means that we’re paying attention to that voice inside that
says, “You can do this; it might be hard, but give it a shot.”
We’ve all got a bit of grit and stick-to-it-iveness in us. It’s about knowing that failing at
something just means we’ve learned a little more. It also means that we’ve got a lot going
on in our noggins and in our lives. We’re pretty darned awesome if you think about it!
What every student should know about the FAFSA
— the FREE application for federal student aid
What is the FAFSA?
How do I complete the FAFSA?
The FAFSA is a financial aid application that is the starting
point for all federal student aid programs offered by the U.S.
Department of Education. It is also required as part of the
application for a Vermont grant, for most scholarships that are
available through VSAC for Vermont residents, and for many
scholarships offered by colleges.
Online! Go to https://fafsa.ed.gov to complete the free
application. Before you actually sit down and apply online, fill
out the FAFSA on the Web worksheet. It’s available at
https://fafsa.ed.gov and will help you gather the information
you’ll need in order to complete the application.
The two most important things to remember:
Why complete the FAFSA?
Completing and submitting the FAFSA provides access to
the largest source of financial aid (money in the form of grants,
scholarships, and federal loans) to help pay for college. This
financial aid from the federal government can cover expenses
such as tuition and fees, room and board, books and supplies,
transportation, and many other related expenses (computers,
for example).
Parents and students should fill out a FAFSA even if
students don’t know what their plans are after high school. The
application is free and easier than ever. If you don’t complete
a FAFSA, you could be missing out on a lot of financial aid.
How does it work?
The primary function of the FAFSA is to create a dollar figure
— your “expected family contribution” (EFC), which is used to
determine your eligibility for financial aid (the EFC, however, is
not the amount of money that your family must provide). The EFC
is based on a family’s financial situation, which may change from
year to year. That’s why students should fill out a FAFSA every
year they attend college.
• Filling out the FAFSA does not obligate a parent to pay for
college. It simply makes your student eligible for all kinds of
financial aid.
• The application is free, so you should never pay to fill it out.
Be sure to use the federal site at https://fafsa.ed.gov.
FAFSA assistance is available
throughout January 2015!
At www.vsac.org/schedule, click the link “January
2015” for the date and time of a Forms Night at
your high school.
Unable to attend? We offer several FAFSA videos
that you can watch from the convenience of your
home. Simply click on “Financial aid tutorials” at
http://vsacroadmaps.org/online-presentations.
Don’t forget scholarship applications
VSAC’s scholarships booklet is available now at your high
school guidance office or online at www.vsac.org/publications
(click on the “paying for college” link). This is a million-dollar
booklet that features information and application instructions for
more than 140 scholarships for Vermonters, and one of them may
be perfect for your student.
Make sure that you and your student read the instructions
on pages 1–3 of the booklet. These instructions explain how best
to make sure that your single application for all of the VSACassisted scholarships is complete and correct (because even if
you meet the deadlines for VSAC-assisted scholarships, your
application won’t move forward if you haven’t properly submitted
all of the required information).
Speaking of deadlines, pay attention to them!
There are two deadlines for VSAC-assisted scholarships:
• February 6 — If your student meets this early-bird deadline,
he or she will be entered into a drawing for one of three
$1,000 scholarships.
• March 6 — This is the final deadline for the application and
all supporting documents.
Meeting these deadlines is of utmost importance because
applications won’t be reviewed after these dates. The application
and all required documents must be postmarked by one of these
two dates if sent by postal mail; if uploaded to VSAC via the Web,
all materials must be submitted by 11:59 pm.
If you want to take advantage of scholarship opportunities,
look at the checklist, follow every instruction, take notice of the
specific details of each scholarship, and complete and submit all
application materials on time. Have a question? We can answer it
for you! Just call VSAC’s scholarships program at 1-888-253-4819
(654-3798 in the Burlington area).
Conversations on the Go
Ever pause through that awkward silence on the ride to somewhere with your
teen? There’s a little book called Conversations on the GO that I picked up a
while back. There are some great tidbits to prompt conversations between teens
and adults. I get tired of asking the same questions: How was school today?
Who did you eat lunch with? How are you? How was practice? To get myself out
of the conversation slump, I grabbed this book as a chance to spice up
conversation with my teen.
The Youth Risk Behavior Survey says that students want to talk with
adults more — about more than superficial subjects. And, according to the
Search Institute, only one in four youth find parents approachable or
available to talk. So, if you find yourself in a quiet moment, or if your young
person opens the door to conversation, take advantage! Young people rarely
want to talk when we’re up for it — so be up for it when they’re ready.
You may find a conversation hard. You might not agree with the
things you hear or understand why your kids answered the way they did, but the
important thing is that you listen — and engage in the conversation. You’ve asked a question; now
have a discussion. Find out more if you’re both open to it. Be ready for something you didn’t expect; and,
remember, the idea is not to debate an issue or impart vast knowledge! It’s to learn more about
your teen. This book provides some great conversation starters! Here are just a few:
• What is your favorite family tradition?
• Tell me about your favorite teacher.
• What was the nicest compliment you’ve ever received from an adult?
• What is the most important quality you look for in a friend?
• What questions would you like adults to ask you or your friends?
• What are the most pressing issues at your school right now?
• Who are the three people you can count on the most, and why did you choose them?
• What two questions do you have about your family history?
• If your neighborhood could come together for a cause, what would you like it to be?
GEAR UP Partners with ACT to Improve Student
Academic Outcomes
This past year, eight Vermont GEAR UP high schools have
collaborated with VSAC and ACT on a new initiative. The goal of
this partnership is to increase the academic success and college
enrollment of each of the school’s students. The participating
schools are Green Mountain Union High School, Springfield High
School, North Country Union High School, Lake Region Union High
School, Blue Mountain Union High School, Concord School,
Canaan School, and Richford High School. The project is designed
to focus on the Class of 2017, following their progress throughout
high school and during the first two years after high school.
Last year, every ninth grader at each of the participating
schools took the ACT–EXPLORE exam during the winter (and
students in the Class of 2017 will continue with ACT testing until
their senior year). School and GEAR UP staff then met to review
the scores and to plan interventions to support the specific
student and school-wide needs identified from test results.
Moving forward, Vermont GEAR UP will be tracking the extent
to which these students take higher-level math classes, the
precentage of these students who graduate, and the number of
students who go on to college. In addition to the GEAR UP
outreach counselors, our schools will be offering support to
students and parents to understand and take full advantage of
this project.
Results and plans will be shared with families, so be on the
lookout for school news if your student attends one of the eight!
To learn about the EXPLORE, PLAN, and ACT tests, please
visit www.act.org/path/parent/tests/movie.html and view
the ACT video for parents.
For questions, call 1-800-660-3561 or e-mail Julie
Welkowitz ([email protected]), Cathy Printon ([email protected]),
or Heather Schneider ([email protected]).
College Pathways 2015
College Pathways is a free event created by VSAC for Vermont high school juniors
and sophomores who are going to college or thinking about college. If you’re the parent
of a high school junior or sophomore, this program is designed for you as well. The
informative day of college planning workshops is held in the spring at three different
locations across the state, providing you with a day on a Vermont college campus — all
for free, including lunch!
Presenters from statewide colleges and organizations will provide info and answer
questions around financial aid, managing college costs and education debt, applying to
college, writing admissions essays, strategies for the SAT and ACT, playing collegiate
sports, finding the right college fit, and more. Here’s where we’ll be in 2015:
Saturday, March 21, at St. Michael’s College
Monday, March 30, at Lyndon State College — an evening event with the Northeast
Kingdom College Fair
Saturday, April 11, at Castleton State College
Register online at visit www.vsac.org/collegepathways or call 888-943-7301.
Individual workshops will close once maximum capacity is reached, so register early!
Use our Roadmap to
College for all your
planning needs
At vsacroadmaps.org, you can:
• get tips for every year of high
school
• find info, links, and free test
prep tools for the SAT and ACT
• learn about writing the college
essay and the rest of the
application process
GEAR UP Parents —
It’s survey time!
Your child’s school has been working with VSAC’s GEAR UP program to provide
support and information so that students can be ready for future careers and college.
To be sure that what we’re doing is helpful to your family, we would like to have your
feedback. Please go to http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/GUParentSurvey14-15
to fill out our quick 5- to 10-minute survey. Your responses will strengthen our ability
to provide services to your student(s), your school, and other students in Vermont.
Thank you for taking a few moments to help!
• learn about college costs and
financial aid
Every two years, we send this survey to our students and families to find out how
informed you feel about the college application, financial aid, and college decisionmaking process. We also want to hear your ideas about how we can better reach you
and provide the information and resources you need in order to support your child as he
or she progresses through middle school, high school, and beyond.
• find information on grants,
scholarships, and loans, along
with links to online applications
The student surveys will be given out in school. While this information is sent back
to our funders, it is in summary form. In other words, no individual student or parent
name or response is shared with anyone!
While you’re there, make sure to sign
up for periodic e-mails to receive:
• news about free college
planning events
• reminders and deadlines for
financial aid applications
Planning for college and career is not always an easy or clear path. We would like
to be sure you know that you have an ally in Vermont. Through VSAC’s GEAR UP
program, we offer support in your school through an outreach counselor that you and
your student have access to; in addition, this counselor offers your school support with
its academic, career, and parent initiatives. Plus, your GEAR UP student(s) will receive
a renewable scholarship to attend college!
We appreciate the honor of working with your child(ren) and the fact that you’ll
take a few minutes out of your day to fill out this survey.
For article suggestions and program highlights,
contact Cathy Printon, Community and Parent
Program Coordinator, at [email protected].
Join us on facebook!
facebook.com/VermontStudentAssistanceCorporation
Winter 2015