To meet the mission of GAPS, our goals are threefold – built on programming, partnerships, and permanence.
Programming: GAPS develops programming and promotes programs that deliver multiple structured pathways to success for students that connect alumni collectively and individually with students and administration and prepares them for academic, career and personal success.
Partnerships: GAPS creates effective and enduring partnerships and relationships based on common goals (collaborative, coordinative and constructive) with school administrators, teachers, alumni, students, parents, businesses, and community resources with GCSC and city, state, and national agencies.
Permanence: GAPS is institutionalized by integrating into the Gary Community School Corporation and the Gary community while developing sustainable funding mechanisms.
A message from the Founder and Chairman
Greetings,
When five West Side High School alumni founded the Gary Alumni Pathway to Students (GAPS) in 2016 with the stated goal of creating pathways to success in college, careers and life for current students of West Side Leadership Academy (WSLA), the challenges that we and our students faced were daunting.
To guide our development, we created a Strategic Game plan that established goals in three areas: Programs, Partnerships and Permanence. In less than six years, GAPS has evolved from an all-volunteer “alumni group” supporting Career Day and after-school programs to assuming a leadership role in providing Gary students with insights and support that will take them far beyond the walls of their classrooms. We have:
- Served approximately 10,000 students and engaged over 1600 volunteers to deliver programs and services.
- Created formal Partnerships with Gary Community Schools and several community stakeholders through founding the College and Career Readiness Alliance and the Career Coaching Grant Stakeholders group.
- Developed resources, hired full time staff, expanded our Board, embedded GAPS into WSLA and Gary Community Schools and put in motion a Permanence secession plan that ensures that GAPS continues to evolve in response to the needs of our students in our rapidly changing and stressful environment.
The challenges we all face today are still daunting, even more so than before, thanks to COVID. GAPS and our partners are committed and engaged to ensure the success of our students, despite the obstacles they face. And we are succeeding! Check out our Programs page for exciting, new developments. Better still, join us!
