AVID Monthly Newsletter
January 2019
SAVE THESE DATES!
- AVID 11th and 12th Grade Family Night: February 7th @ 6:30 pm
- Parent Teacher Conferences: March 13th from 2 pm-8 pm
- Parent's Night Out AVID fundraiser: March 2nd @ 4 pm
Letter from the Director
Dear AVID families,
Welcome back! We are starting our spring semester strong in the AVID program with students participating in tutorials and binder checks during their second week back. As we continue to work to make the AVID program an even better experience for our students, the AVID team made some changes to our expectations for student portfolios this semester. Students should have received these expectations on their first few days back to make sure they had plenty of time to plan. One of our new expectations is for students to attend parent teacher conferences with their core academic teachers in an effort to learn the skill of speaking with their teachers about their academic performance and accepting feedback. We highly encourage parents to attend these conferences with their students. The AVID team feels this experience will be essential in helping students not only learn more about themselves, but also gaining the confidence to discuss their academic career with professors in the future. Students will be able to register for these conferences online. If you have any questions, please feel free to email me or their AVID elective teacher.
All AVID freshmen, sophomores, and junior will be meeting with their AVID teachers to help select courses for next year. We encourage you to ask your student about the courses they plan on registering for next year and remind them about the importance of challenging themselves academically.
We are also in the middle of AVID selection for our incoming freshmen class of 2023. Applications were due on January 12th, but we extended the deadline due to scheduling issues. If you know any incoming freshmen who would be a great fit for our AVID program, they can find the application online. We will accept applications until February 1st, 2019.
Sincerely,
Melissa Schaefer
AVID Course Selection Requirements
- Students need to take at least one honors course
- Students looking to take their first AP course should consider AP Human Geography
Junior Year
- Students need to take at least one AP or two honors courses
- Students should take academically challenging elective courses
Senior Year
- Students need to take at least one AP course
- Students must take a 4th year of math
- Students may take a study hall if they have more than 2 AP/honor courses
Tips to Find Money for College
- WHAT TYPES OF SCHOLARSHIPS CAN I APPLY FOR?
Athletic: Based on athletic performance
Creative: Based on talent in art, music, dance
Community service: Based on involvement in your school or community
Diversity: Based on race, ethnicity, family heritage, religion, sexual orientation, etc.
Need: Based on financial need
Other: Leadership, alumni, etc.
- WHERE SHOULD I LOOK FOR SCHOLARSHIPS?
Naviance: A great place to find local scholarships for MHS students, scholarships for Illinois residents, and lots of others!
Cappex.com: Find scholarships that match your academic profile
In addition, students should look for scholarship opportunities at the different colleges they applied to this fall and any local organizations where they or their families are a member.
- HERE ARE SOME IMPORTANT QUESTIONS TO ASK:
Am I eligible for this scholarship? some scholarships have very specific requirements, so it is important to do your research before you put in the work to apply!
Is the scholarship renewable? If yes, learn about the renewal requirements. If it’s not, think about how you are going to replace these funds the following year.Is it portable? Can you take the scholarship with you if you transfer schools? Some scholarships are bound to specific colleges.
Meet an AVID Senior!!
Name: Esther Kim
College Acceptances: Illinois State University, Lewis University, Illinois Wesleyan University
Favorite AVID memory: The overnight visit during junior year to colleges in Indiana
Best advice for AVID students: Work hard because at the end it is all worth it! I promise!