GEAR UP Vendor Fair Highlights Key Resources for Utah Students

Coordinators chatting with vendors

An assortment of vendors at the fair

The Texas Instruments & Tutor.com tables

The vendor lineup featured a range of organizations focused on student development, academic support and future readiness:

• Cool Speak - A nationally recognized youth empowerment organization offering summer camps, bus tours and conferences.
• Derivita - A math software company that integrates into Canvas, helping students complete assignments and tests with feedback provided while providing teachers with quick content creation tools.
• Aric Bostick - Offers motivational training that helps students create step-by-step success plans and supports teachers in building meaningful student relationships.
• The Da Vinci Approach - Founded by Shaun Barrowes, a singer/songwriter, this program uses creativity and music to promote emotional and mental wellness.
• Tutor.com - An educational platform that provides direct individualized support from a live tutor.
• WhyTry - A K-12 curriculum that social-emotional learning skills such as decision making, emotional regulation, self-efficacy and resilience.
• Nucleus - A simulator that offers hands-on learning experiences in business, financial literacy and robotics.
• Research Grants Innovation (RGI) Corporation - Specializes in grant writing and maintaining a database to assess the USU STARS GEAR UP program impact.
• Aspire - A National Science Foundation Engineering Research Center working on electrified transportation and infrastructure.
• Texas Instruments - Known for calculators, the company also develops analog and embedded chips to advance technology.
• Focus Training - A leadership development company that provides onsite and virtual curriculum, camps and bus tours. 

Site coordinators and college advisers were excited to learn about all the potential partnerships and collaboration opportunities.

“GEAR UP functions as a collaborative partnership among institutions of higher education, local education agencies, and community organizations,” said Aryn Dotterer, a GEAR UP executive director, "The USU STARS GEAR UP Vendor Fair exemplifies this collaboration—bringing together Utah State University, school partners from across the state, and community and business partners in a shared effort to provide services to our GEAR UP students."

GEAR UP will be sharing videos of vendor spotlights on our social media platforms in the coming weeks to keep the conversation going and for our audiences to understand why our partners share the same passion for student success.  

GEAR UP is a federally funded grant program that works with students in middle and high schools in low-income areas to provide college and career readiness and support.

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