Liberty High School AVID
Advancement Via Individual Determination
Applications for the 2024-2025 School Year are Now Open!
All students in the AVID elective have been selected through an application process. The first step is to complete the online application form. Eligible candidates will then be invited to a brief interview with members of the Liberty High School AVID Site Team.
AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) is an elective class offered to students who would like to prepare for four-year universities. The curriculum features writing, inquiry, collaboration, reading, note-taking and study skills, and college/career/motivational activities. College students are in the classroom as tutors twice a week, and field trips are taken to universities in the area. Students must commit to taking notes in subject-area classes on a daily basis. Other requirements for applicants are satisfactory citizenship, good attendance, and a GPA of 2.0 or greater.
Focus For Acceptance Into AVID
- GPA of 2.0 to 3.5.
- Come from an “underrepresented” group.
- Able to complete four-year university requirements prior to graduation.
- Hard worker, have a positive attitude, and be collaborative in nature.
- Need support in rigorous courses (HN, AP, Dual-enrollment)
What AVID is NOT
- AVID is not an “at-risk” program. It is a program designed to support students who would otherwise not attend a four-year university.
- AVID is not for students who don’t do any of their homework.
- AVID is not for the consistently “D” or “F” student.
- AVID is not a program for unmotivated students. They must have Individual Determination.
TEMPLATES
Brainstorm: Use this template to PLAN what will be included on your resume
Getting organized: Use this template. PROCESS the information that you may choose to include on your resume. This will be easy to cut and paste from later.
First Draft: Use this template. Here you will USE the information that you typed on the previous document. Just copy and paste and then add any additional information.
Final Resume: Almost done! Use this template. Here you will use the information from your rough draft. Just copy and paste and then add the last bits of information.
HOME TIPS: College Admission Tests
1) Reinforce the tips from the December 2023 AVID Newsletter (Issue 5)
2. Help your teen set and stick to a practice schedule, and help them to access test prep resources (many are free online).
3. For more information, see the CollegeBoard’s resource Getting Your Teen Ready for the SAT
HOME TIPS: Scholarships
Start early and organize
Research online, ask colleagues, and talk to members of philanthropic organizations, churches, civic groups, etc.
Encourage your student to APPLY. Applying for scholarships takes sustained effort, students can save themselves financial burdens and the stress of last minute applications by committing one day a week to research and apply for scholarships.
HOME TIPS: Goal Setting
Help your student identify what they want to achieve and brainstorm action steps that will lead to success.
Check-in with your student frequently to help them monitor progress toward their goals and celebrate growth.
Encourage goals related to a variety of durations (short, medium, and long term) and consider having your student post their goals and goal progress in a visible location.
Focused Note Taking
Tips for Home
1) Reinforce the tips from the September 2023 AVID Newsletter
2) Remind your student to review class notes every night.
3) REview notes with your student, and encourage them to enlist a study buddy to go over notes together to fill in gaps and misunderstandings, and to make connectinos to other material.
3) Encourage your student to access or ask for supplementary or guided notes if its in their 504 or IEP plan.
4) For most students, handwritten ntoes are best. However, for students with slow processing speed or messy handwriting, typing may be best.
Tips for Educators
1)Teach students how to take notes & review the benefits
2) Make time for notetaking application activiites
3) Read More: Engaging to Empower, AVID Digital FNT Strategies
Organization Skills
Tips for Home
1) Reinforce the tips from the August 2023 AVID Newsletter
2) Help your student(s) establish a routine and organizational structures for home and school
3) Post a visual or digital schedule for youth to see times and activities
4) Read More: English and Spanish + MoreTips for Educators
1)Teach and reinforce naming conventions to save digital materials.
Ex. Name + Assignment Name
2) Post assignments and deadlines + prompt students to record in planners + Backwards map
3) Guide students to create and maintain organization structures & strategies
4) Encourage the use of visual (graphic) organizers
What is AVID?
AVID's mission is to close the opportunity gap by preparing all students for college readiness and success in a global society.
Current AVID Students Answer the Question: What is AVID?
Go Deeper on WICOR
Writing: Writing is basic to thinking, learning, and growth, requiring students to consider issues in new, complex ways, contributing to self-knowledge, and helping them to clarify and order experience and ideas.
Inquiry: AVID’s emphasis on inquiry focuses on the application of Costa’s three levels of “intellectual functioning," whereby learning to ask progressively more complex questions is scaffolded and students become progressively more metacognitive—aware of their own thinking processes.
Collaboration: Collaborative learning involves intentionally designed student groups engaged in “co-laboring” toward meaningful learning outcomes, using active engagement activities planned to maximize learning, and facilitating the sharing of the workload Barkley, Cross and Major (2005)
Organization: Because college students face competing priorities that are often overwhelming, organizational skills are critical to success in academic and social situations.
Reading: College instructors consider reading a basic skill, one that all students should have acquired before entering college.
What is AVID Schoolwide?
Why does AVID matter?
AVID is "a style of teaching that was geared to conceptual understanding, not just memorization of facts and formulas."
"Students learn how to take notes, question teachers, manage their time, plan for college, plan for life, make effective presentations, write persuasively, and develop other skills that the regular classes did not have time for. "
Our understanding is that AVID provides a framework for learning. It combines lots of best practices in specific areas such as note-taking, organization all the way to a variety of soft skills such as listening, public speaking, and delivers in a comprehensive package. It is a great framework to hold everyone (students and teachers) to the highest standard.
[Source: Question Everything (Mathews, 2015) ]
Our Liberty High School Site Team:
AVID = the HOW
Content/Subject Area = the WHAT
Jenny Mick: AVID 9, Learning Support, Co-Taught English 9
Maya Echols: AVID 10, Spanish I & 2
Tom Cronk: AVID 11, Success Center, PE
Shelby Bryce: School Counselor
Emily O’Donnell: Assistant Principal
Keaton Rickels: Dean of Students
Marianne McGrane: Earth Space Science
Stacey Strief: AP Human Geography, American Studies
Shishonee Hughes: Chemistry, AP Environmental Science
Tiffany Roiseland: IDS, English Learners
AVID Student of the Month Recognition
December 2020: Christian Ayala
January 2021: Lizzie Hanson
February 2021: Alexia Dominguez
March 2021: Addison Stokes
April 2021: Cynthia Shields
May 2021: Jasmine Hershberger
June 2021: Konstantin Titarenko
AVID Strategy of the Month
Link to AVID Strategy of the Month Slides: 2021-2022
September: Inquiry to Boost Rigor
October: Relational Capacity
November: Rigor Through Scaffolding
December: Focused Note Taking and Organization (Thoughts and Materials)
January: eBinders
February: Focused Note Taking
Link to AVID Strategy of the Month Slides
November 2020: Focused Note Taking
December 2020: Goal Setting and Reflection
January 2021: Building Relational Capacity / Social Emotional Learning (SEL)
February 2021: One-Pagers
March 2021: Study Groups
April 2021: Summarizing
May 2021: Marking the Text