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GO Centers are a grass roots network of community-managed college recruiting centers located in communities across the State of Texas.
BASIC DESIGN ELEMENTS
While each GO Center will have programs and projects developed around local resources, all GO Centers will have the following common elements:
Align with the College For Texas Education Go Get It slogan, logo, and marketing efforts
Operate as a statewide network of community level recruiting centers
Operate as high school and college student-led centers with adult and higher education support
Have physical facilities and computer connectivity linking them t on-line resources
Are organizational hubs for local marketing and outreach efforts
Serve as a local coordination point for resources supporting the College For Texans Campaign
Facilitate and extend existing partnerships and develop new partnerships among K-12 schools, institutions of higher ducation, and business and other groups in the community.
GO CENTER ORDINATES
Through GO Centers, G-Force members will focus on issues of Attitude, Aptitude and Access and will develop projects at multiple grade levels to support campaign goals related to these areas.
ATTITUDE refers to developing the mental attitude in students and parents that a college education is possible and obtainable and that they will make the necessary sacrifices to achieve that goal
APTITUDE refers to the development of adequate academic skills at each grade level that allows students to successfully transition from grade level to grade level and ultimately lead to obtaining college level credentials.
ACCESS refers to successfully removing barriers that would prevent an academically prepared student with the desire to pursue college from achieving that goal.
G-FORCE MEMBERS
The most critical element of a GO Center is the group of peer educators that manage the center. The GO Center process begins with the establishment of the G-Force.
G-FORCE is a scientific term for Gravitational Force and is related to the gravitational pull of the earth on objects. Once an object is put in motion, the G-Force is momentum in an object that can result in a tremendous impact.
Just as the G-Force is momentum in a moving an object and can build if more force is added, the decision to GO to college is an on-going process once put in motion and often requires assistance to maintain and build momentum for a student to realize he full impact of that decision. In short, G-Force members help create the momentum in other students to go to college.
There are three types of G-Force membership categories - Student, Community, and Organizational.
HIGH SCHOOL G-FORCE MEMBERS are high school students selected to serve as peer educators based on the following criteria:
Already college bound
Participating in Texas Scholars and/or pursuing Recommended HS Curriculum
Academically qualified for college
Express a desire to work with the project
Willingness to be trained and present materials to students and adults and participate in various GO Center activities.
The COLLEGIATE G-FORCE is a network of student organizations located in public and private colleges, universities, and technical schools across Texas. L Each participating institution has a chapter that is an officially charter student organization.
COMMUNITY G-FORCE MEMBERS are any individual that has an interest in assisting the student members achieve their goals of increasing the number of students successfully transitioning from their school to a post-secondary institution.
ORGANIZATIONAL G-FORCE MEMBERS are any community organization that is willing to assist the student members achieve their campaign goals. This would include all types of community level organizations such as churches, civic/service organizations, local support agencies, city or county government, local businesses or any other entity.
GO CENTER TRAINING
Training is available to provide schools with on-going support of GO Centers.
G-FORCE LEADERSHIP SUMMIT
Each year college and high school students from across the state come together for the Texas G-Force Summit. At the summit, G-Force members network with students from across the state gathering ideas for local campaign strategies they can take back to their community. They also receive leadership training to increase their ability to impact their community. Finally, the students develop the annual plan for statewide campaign initiatives.
GO CENTER LAUNCH
Before launching a GO Center, each location is invited to send students for training on how to launch and then maintain their new GO Center. We have recently completed the Spring 2004 training sessions and are working on completing the winter training sessions.
GO CENTER REGIONAL ENERGIZERS
Regional CO Center Energizers are conducted periodically each year to provide introductory training to new G-Force members as well as more advanced training for experienced members. Participants will also be given information on successful projects that were implemented in other regions and would be of interest in all locations.
STARTING A GO CENTER
Interested in starting a GO Center? There are a few basic requirements to starting a GO Center and the rest is up to you.
GO CENTER HUBS
Hubs are GO Centers that are located on high school campuses.
To be recognized as a GO Center hub and have access to GO Centers, schools must agree to the following:
o Designate a physical site on a school campus to serve as the center for GO
Center activities. This site does not have to be in its own room but it does have to be designated space for a computer and GO Center materials.
Provide a GO Center computer with Internet access
Designate a school faculty or staff person who will serve as a sponsor
Recruit a group of students to serve as G-Force members
Send G-Force members and GO Center sponsor to the G-Force Training
Maintain an updated GO Center page on the GO Center website
If you would like to have your school considered for the creation of a GO Center HUB, complete the GO Center HUB Application Form and send it to Romona Vaughan, TBEC Regional Coordinator, 4105 Maplewood, Wichita Falls, TX 76308 or call 940-696-8752, extension 3249.
GO CENTER SATELLITES
Satellites are GO Centers that are located any place other than a high school (college, jr. high school, middle school, libraries, workforce center, low-incoming housing, etc.)
The definition of Satellite GO Centers is very broad. The basic requirements are:
Designate a physical site to serve as the GO Center. This site can be in its own room, but there does have to be designated space and GO Center marketing materials.
Provide a GO Center computer with Internet access
Designate a staff person who will serve as GO Center sponsor
Carry out specific functions related to campaign goals as stated in the GO Center Satellite registration form.
If you would like to have your community considered for the creation of a GO Center Satellite fill out the GO Center Satellite Application Form and send it to Romona Vaughan, TBEC Regional Coordinator, 2813 Central Expressway East,
AGENDA
Pole Position - Registration is 9:00 a.m. Sponsors and G-Force members will need to check in at the race table and receive their gate passes.
Pit Crew Meeting - Collegiate G-Force members serving as support staff will meet with training coordinators to get instructions and assignments.
Driven - This year's general sessions will help G-Force members begin to focus on developing long and short term strategic plans for their GO Centers.
Driver Certification - Rookie G-Force members will be given an overview of GO Centers and the role of G-Force. This session will also provide participants with basic leadership training that will allow them to be effective leaders in their school.
Drafting School - Teamwork is critical to the success of any GO Center. A winning racing team will work together to draft off of each other to get the most out of their efforts. This session will teach G-Force members several teambuilding games that can be taken back to their schools and used with their GO Center outreach activities as they grow their G-Force.
Instant Replay - August 31, 2004 marked the first anniversary of the first statewide GO Center ribbon cuttings. In only a year, GO Centers across the state have generated some very effective and innovative strategies and activities. This session will provide returning G-Force members with an overview of some of the more interesting efforts of our first year GO Centers.
Reality Store - This session will demonstrate one of the most popular activities from last year's training. The Reality Store is a high impact activity that helps students understand the relationship between a college education and earning potential. Student will actually enter a mock town, receive a paycheck, asked to make typical purchases and try to live for a month (20 minutes) on the salary they are given. It all seems simple enough, but watch for Duke roaming the room handing out Whammies. The session will end with training on the use of GO Kits slides that discuss the financial benefits of going to college.
Overtime - This session will demonstrate a new activity just developed for GO Centers. Overtime is a carnival activity designed to conduct as an after game event at your high school. Carnival games highlight different aspects of college. It is a great way to have fun with students while opening the door to start conversations about college.
Mentoring on General Issues - This session will provide rookie G-Force members with the basic tools to work one-on-one with students. The training will include basic instruction on the do's and don'ts of one-on-one mentoring as well as web-based tools such as careercruising.com as a tool to assist with the mentoring process.
Financial Aid - This session will provide rookie G-Force members with an understanding of the basic information that students need to know about financing college. This session will include instruction on GO Kit slides related to financial aid as well as a demonstration of fun activities that can be used back at school to help get the message to other students. The session will also include a demonstration of the On-line College network system that will allow students to place their resumes on-line to be made available for college recruiters to search for potential scholarship recipients.
Admissions - This session will provide rookie G-Force members with an understanding of the basic information that students need to know about selecting colleges and getting into the college of their choice. This session will include instruction on GO Kit slides related to college admission as well as a demonstration of fun activities that can be used back at school to help get the message to other students. This session will also include a demonstration of the collegefortexans.com site that provides invaluable information on college admissions as well as a variety of other information.
Webtools - This session will provide veteran G-Force members with demonstrations of a variety of helpful on-line resources. Have you seen the site that helps students prepare for the TAKS test? Participants will find out abut all kinds of cool sites on the web.
Advanced Webtools - This session will provide veteran G-Force members with demonstrations of a variety of helpful on-line resources. Have you seen the site that helps students prepare for the TAKS test? Participants will find out about the TAKS preparation site as well as information on many other useful sites.
Mentoring on Special Issues - This session will provide veteran G-Force members with more advanced information on working one-on-one with students. This session will focus on specific issues that are likely to arise when working with specific groups of students. What options do undocumented students have? What options are available for students with disabilities? These are just a few of the topics that will be covered.
Resource Development - This session will provide veteran G-Force members with training on how find resources for their GO Center activities. L Members will be given basic training on how to write a grant proposal. They will earn about programs that may be in their community that make great partners with their GO Center and likely have funding to support their efforts. Participants will also be given several ideas for fundraisers that they can take back to their schools.
GO Cup - Last year it was Fear Factor. This year it all comes down to the GO Cup. Did your team earn enough fuel to finish the race? Welcome to the Texas Go Center Raceway. Each team will send a representative to navigate their team's car around the 12 foot long indoor racing oval. This is no ordinary model car racetrack. These cars can reach 80 miles per hour. Will your team make it to the finish line?
To see pictures taken at GoCenter click here.
This year Iowa Park High School hosted a GoCenter training session. For information click here.
