Jessa Harrington was a participant in the Columbia Middle School summer high school transition program for students moving from the 8th grade to high school. The program ran for five weeks with students taking classes in math, english and reading with the goal of helping students become ready for their high school curriculum. Jessa was an active participant in all activities and assignments and has really exceled in all subjects! Jessa says "I feel more confident now, especially in math. I was able to get a lot of one on one attention". Jessa is well on her way to success in the high school!

Both Columbia and Finley Middle School ran a weeklong summer program where students were able to design, build, paint and then race their own CO2 car. During the week students learned about aerodynamics, chemical compositions of CO2, drafting and teamwork! The week ended with a competition at Finley Middle School where all students brought their CO2 cars and were able to race them and see what each other had created. Columbia Middle School's Devin Percifield took the win but everyone did such a great job! Congratulations to everyone!

Kimberly Poma, a Columbia Middle School 8th grade student was selected to present her powerpoint presentation of a forensic scientist at Washington State University Tri-Cities during the career showcase.

Kim's powerpoint outlined the importance of a college education and how it related to your job possibilities and future earnings. She showed poise and confidence on the stage and thoughrougly impressed the audience. 

Way to go Kim, we're proud of you!

Throughout the last three months three teachers at Columbia Middle School have been attending workshops and observing techniques to integrate GLAD (Guided Language Aquisition Design) into their classrooms. GLAD is a curriculum model that provides structure and strategies for an integrated, balanced literacy approach in a multilingual setting.

Erin Bennett, a 7th grade English teacher, said: "During my 5-day training, I had the chance to observe many exciting teaching and learning techniques such as differentiated instruction, scaffolding, and student interdependence.  Any student who is taught with the GLAD model is very fortunate to receive such high quality, engaging instruction. Thank You Gear-Up for helping make me one of those teachers who can teach such engaging lessons!"

GEAR UP is very excited to be able to fund such a beneficial staff development opporunity for teachers!