A program that matches UW-Superior student mentors with Superior Middle School students to help more youths succeed in school and pursue higher education is among the programs that will be highlighted Thursday, March10, in Madison for University of Wisconsin System Regents and top administrators.

UW-Superior's Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness in Superior, or GEARS, provides Superior Middle School students and their families with the means to see higher education as a possibility. GEARS supports Wisconsin's KnowHow2Go Network, part of a nationwide program that aims to raise college aspirations in young people and teach them how to get there.

Jenice Meyer, coordinator of Academic Service-Learning and GEARS at UW-Superior, and Julie Schmidt, GEARS program specialist, will present information about the program at a special information session that's part of the monthly Board of Regents meeting. Two other Wisconsin programs also will make presentations.

Under the GEARS program, UW-Superior trains university students to become tutors and mentors. The university students are matched with selected Superior sixth-graders to tutor them on academic subjects, and to connect them and their families to cultural and recreational activities at UW-Superior.

Currently, 32 UW-Superior students and 60 Superior Middle School students are participating in GEARS.

The goal of GEARS is to enable the university student mentors to help the young students succeed in middle school, attend and graduate from high school, and to consider pursuing higher education through a university or technical college.

GEARS also helps the UW-Superior student mentors to become engaged with the community and to take part in meaningful academic service-learning.