The AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) signing ceremony on May 21 was a love filled event.
The student speakers said that they love and respect the teachers, tutors and other students in the program.
They talked about their growth as students and as young adults, about the important support and pushing that they received and that the program gave them the strength, confidence and skills that they needed to excel in school, graduate and earn college acceptance.
See the photo gallery.
When the AVID teachers, Claudene McCoy, Kristen Kelly and Shawn Washington stood at the podium, they described the joy of seeing incredible academic, social and emotional growth in students and their intense pride in witnessing that growth. They told the students that they love them.
Love is not all that you need, but it seems to be at the core of the AVID success. This year 53 students are graduating from the AVID program, up from 36 students last year. According to the AVID staff, next year’s class will be even bigger.
AVID teacher Shawn Washington closed the program with a phase that she uses at the end of each class: Get Out – go into the world and do what needs to be done, Be Good – to each other, be good students, family members and citizens and Don’t Embarrass Me – you know what I mean!
The AVID program has been proven to increase college readiness, preparedness, and retention when compared to the national averages. AVID teachers use research-based best practices. AVID was established 30 years ago and more than 800,000 students in 44 states use the curriculum.
Students in the CH-UH District can enter the AVID program as middle or high school students.