Educator Spotlight: Janon Rogers header image


Name:
Janon Rogers
School: North Douglas High School
Position: GEAR UP Coordinator
College Alma Mater: A.S. in Engineering from West Los Angeles College, B.S. in Math from California State University Los Angeles; M.S. in Computer Science from University of Southern California
One fun fact: I am a 3rd degree Black Belt in Taekwondo, and own two clubs in Douglas County where I train students from age 4 to adult.

Because of GEAR UP, our students are learning about a wide array of potential futures for themselves!

Describe your educational journey: I had an extremely varied college career – with various personal life changes, I’ve attended five different colleges for my undergraduate degree (Cal State Long Beach, Santa Monica College, El Camino College, West Los Angeles, Cal State Los Angeles), changing majors twice along the way. This was made possible because college was SO much less expensive when I was going, and I had the advantage of working for a company, Hughes Aircraft, that was willing to reimburse me for tuition and books towards a degree in math or science. I received a Fellowship from the company for my graduate degree. I continued working on software development for another 9 years at Hughes in Los Angeles and Arlington, VA, and an additional 10 years at Hewlett-Packard in Corvallis.

The impact of GEAR UP: When I bring my students to a college field trip now, the VAST majority raise their hands when asked if they are planning to attend college after high school, a marked change from the first year of GEAR UP. GEAR UP has brought awareness of the realistic possibility of college for so many of our students!