AVID Update
April 2015 - Celebrating our Successes!
AVID’s mission is to close the achievement gap by preparing all students for college readiness and success in a global society.
*************** Kudos to all our AVID Stars! ***************
Ricardo Moctezuma - Winner of the Prestigious Gates Millennium Scholarship!
Ricardo arrived in the U.S. in the fourth grade not knowing any English. During his high school years, he has amassed a 4.33 GPA and has taken 10 AP classes! He plans to become both an entrepreneur and pursue a career in a scientific field. His dream is to help his parents financially, so they can "live peacefully and without any financial adversity."
This is one of the most prestigious scholarships in the nation and will cover his entire college career, from undergraduate to graduate school! Ricardo, we salute you!
Hawa Mohamed - Winner of the Prestigious Dell Scholarship!
AVID 2015 Summer Institute: Stand-out Presenter!
Marysol Gomez graduated from Mar Vista H.S. where she was an AVID student for four years and later returned as an AVID tutor. She has been working as an AVID teacher for the past four years at San Ysidro H.S. and currently teaches AVID 10 and Junior Seminar as well as World History Accelerated and Co-Teach classes. Marysol is a strong proponent of AVID’s mission of helping students gain access to higher education and attributes her own success to the AVID program. She feels that the Cornell note-taking skills she acquired while in the program made it possible for her to transition into college more seamlessly as she was more conscious of how to organize information into useful notes.
Marysol believes the most powerful aspect of AVID is its structure and emphasis on collaboration. She also states that the tutorials are foundational to students’ ability to develop not only academic skills, but also social as well as problem-solving skills. These coupled with the emphasis on factors such as writing summaries, using academic vocabulary and organizing binders enhance AVID students’ abilities in their core classes and provides them with an added advantage over their peers.
She feels lucky to work at SYH, an AVID Demonstration site, where everyone strongly believes in the program. Marysol states, “Each of the teachers brings their own ‘flavor’ into the mix. This provides students with exposure to different manifestations of what the AVID vision is. All teachers have something that they bring to the table, resulting in extremely prepared students.” Additionally, she knows the parents in her community truly understand what the AVID goal is and are extremely grateful and supportive as they realize how much the program benefits their children. Her advice to those wishing to build a strong AVID community is to be a role model and show your genuine enthusiasm for the program.
Approximately 98% of her students will be first-generation college students. She is very grateful to be able to facilitate that process for them and is flattered to have been chosen to be one of the Stand-out Speakers at the upcoming AVID 2015 Summer Institute here in San Diego.
Claudia Alegre, MOH
* SUHSD AVID Stars! *
Jazmin Navarro - HH
Jamielyn Soriano, ELH
* SUHSD AVID Stars! *
Brittany Sweetser, SYH
2015 AVID Founder’s Scholarship Semifinalists!
AVID students Claudia Alegre – Montgomery H.S., Jamielyn Soriano – Eastlake H.S., Jazmin Navarro – Hilltop H.S. and Brittany Sweetser – San Ysidro H.S. have been chosen to interview as semifinalists for the prestigious 2015 AVID Founder’s Scholarship, a 4-year renewable scholarship. (Year 1 is $5,000, while each subsequent year is $10,000, for a total scholarship award of up to $35,000.) This scholarship is only open to AVID seniors in San Diego County high schools who have been selected as the ‘Senior Standout’ by their school’s AVID site team or senior AVID teacher. No matter the outcome, Caludia, Jamielyn, Jazmin and Brittany should be proud of their accomplishments so far!
MVA - On Track to Demonstration School Status!
AVID Ctr. has officially announced that Mar Vista Academy is on track to becoming our SUHSD's next AVID Demonstration site! Thanks to the tremendous leadership and support of Principal, Tom Winters, AVID Coordinator, Armando Leon, AVID Elective teachers Whitney Stangel and Marielle Venturino, as well as the faculty at large, Mar Vista Academy will begin the 18 month process for certification. The AVID community wishes to extend it's heartfelt congratulations and commends MVA for it's dedication to assisting students and families achieve their goal of college readiness!
CVM & CPM: New AVID Sites!
AVID Summer Institutes
2015 AVID Summer Institutes
SUHSD is very fortunate to be sending 130 staff members throughout the district to this year's AVID Summer Institute, an annual professional learning training where contracted sites come to learn the latest in AVID Common Core methodologies and strategies to successfully implement AVID at their schools. AVID and content area teachers alike benefit from the emphasis on Writing, Inquiry, Collaboration, Organization and Reading skills reviewed and modeled in the various strands offered. Additionally, time is allotted for Site Team meetings allowing for the development of AVID Site Plans to be implemented in the 2015-16 school year.
If your site has not yet registered anyone, the SD2 session (August 3rd-5th) is still open. Registration at the 'early bird' pricing of $699 closes on May 1st. Thereafter, registration costs increase to $769pp.
Current Enrollment
San Diego 1: Mission Valley, June 17-19
BVM (4), CPH (2), CPM (1), CVH (8), CVM (8), ELH (7), HM (4), MVA (9), MVH (8), NCM (6),
OHS (2), ORH (4), SOM (10), SUH (4), SYH (13), D.O. (2)
San Diego 2: Downtown, August 3-5
CPM (7), GJ (9), HH (1), MOH (3), MOM (3), RDM (1), SOM (3), SUH (6), D.O. (1)
Anaheim: AVID Excel Strand, June 29 - Jul. 1
MVA (3), D.O. (1)
AVID Summer Institutes Essential Questions:
As you participate in your strands, please contemplate the following EQs....
- What role should AVID Coordinators, Teachers, Admin and other Site Team members play in implementing the AVID program within and beyond the classroom?
- How do challenging tasks affect site expectations, instructional practices and student learning regarding AVID?
- How is AVID embedded in a larger context? How can we explore depth of understanding?
Jeanette Gonzalez-Quiceno
Email: jeanette.gonzalez@sweetwaterschools.org
Location: 670 L St., Ste C, Chula Vista, CA, 91911
Phone: (619) 796-7715