All Gears Clicking
A comprehensive program gets local teens ready for college.

By Karen Feldscher

Chenita Caruthers has a tough decision: Corporate lawyer or architect?

The tenth grader, who lives in Boston's Lenox/Camden public housing development, has high career aspirations. And despite the expense of college, Chenita is confident about her future. She's involved in a Northeastern-sponsored program called GEAR UP. If she does well enough in high school, she'll be eligible for a five-year tuition-free scholarship to Northeastern.

Started five years ago and federally funded, GEAR UP helps low-income, academically challenged students stay in school and prepare for college. More than 300 GEAR UP programs exist across the nation in middle and high schools.

Northeastern's program, which serves 150 local teens, is unique, says director Joseph Warren. It selects students not on the basis of which school they attend but where they live. All its kids come from local public-housing developments.

During the school year, GEAR UP participants receive services after school and on Saturdays. During the summer, they're kept busy every weekday. Northeastern provides many different kinds of help: tutoring, mentoring, assistance with college and financial-aid applications, career counseling, swimming instruction, exposure to undergraduate social life, and field trips.

"We're saying to these kids, 'If you want to improve your life and make the sacrifices it takes to go to college, we're here to help you do it,'" says Warren.

He recalls a session with parents at which admissions dean Ronne Patrick Turner said she wouldn't accept any GEAR UP students at Northeastern if they didn't qualify.

"Some parents said, 'Our kids don't have the same quality of teaching as suburban kids. How will they get good enough scores?'" says Warren. "And Ronne said, 'If I let your children in here and they're not qualified, I wouldn't be doing them any favors. But if they work hard, we will give them a shot.' You would think that would have depressed them. But I think it exhilarated them."

Both parents and students give the program an unequivocal thumbs-up. Mireille Ancion's eldest daughter, Imanuella, who went through the program, is now studying nursing at Salem State College. Ancion's eleventh grader, Cathline, currently in GEAR UP, hopes to follow in her sister's footsteps at Salem State and become a midwife.

"Sometimes, when you're a single mother," explains Ancion, "you don't have anyone to help you, and English is not my language. And sometimes, if you live in a project, people don't figure out that your kids can do very good things. This program gets my kids to do their homework, and it helps them if they're missing something in class."

"I used to be quiet and shy," Cathline says. "But the people in the program kind of opened me up."

Fellow student Chenita ticks off what GEAR UP has given her: tips on essay writing, SAT preparation, experience with research papers, and the chance to work in Northeastern offices. "It's made a big difference," she says. "I've never really had the work ethic I have now."

Karen Feldscher is a senior writer.