Overton Approves Memorandum With Tech

The Overton County Board of Education approved a memorandum with Tennessee Tech on Tuesday for the upcoming GEAR UP program taking place in the county.

Director of Schools Donnie Holman said the county will be required to match a certain amount of funds for the program with Tech each year. Tech Project Lead Luke Anderson said they plan to collaborate with the county and their community partners to provide the best experience possible for local students.

“So there’s four primary goals of it,” Anderson said. “One is that each student will pass Algebra 1 or its equivalent by the end of ninth grade. Two, that they will all graduate from high school. Three, they’ll complete the FAFSA. And four, enroll in an institution of higher learning.”

Holman said they will be able to apply funds that they were already planning to spend for the Innovative School Models Grant to the financial match. Holman said they can also use salaries and various other expenses to further offset the match.

“GEAR UP is a really good, profitable program for our students,” Holman said. “It focuses on sixth grade and seventh grade to begin with and then those students each year progress until they’re seniors.”

Anderson said they are personally connected to the success of this program as two of the three people leading the project live in Livingston themselves.

“Really just excited about the chance to serve,” Anderson said. “Again, this is a partnership grant between you all and us and so we look forward to working with you on that.”

In other business, the board elected William Abston to be the board’s chairperson for the next year and chose Alice Reed as vice chairperson. The board also selected Melissa Savage to be its Tennessee Legislative Network Representative.