Celebrating
25 Years
of College Dreams
Year in Review 2005
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Mary Catherine Swanson, Founder
Javier Escobedo, Ph.D., Class of 1985
Máximo Escobedo, Class of 1983
Yolanda Bogarin, O.D., Class of 1986
Enid Valaile-Glad, Class of 1984
Maria-Francisca Morales-Sandoval, Class of 1984
Arturo Escobedo, Class of 1987
Clarence Fields, Class of 1983
Debbie McLeod, Original Tutor
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Sandra Scherf, AVID Original Site Team
Julio Rios Jr.
Julio Rios, Class of 1984
Marion Pecus Sipe, Class of 1987
Hilari Ford, Class of 1983
Judy Riffle, Original Tutor
Claudia Jordan, Class of 1986
Rev. Jaime Escobedo, Class of 1984
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In 1980, Mary Catherine Swanson and her original class of 32 AVID
students embarked on an unknown journey; although they didn’t
know it then, they were riding a wave that would change belief
systems and alter many destinies. This special 25th anniversary
AVID Year in Review is dedicated to these students and to those
who will surely follow in their wake. In their stories we are reminded
of the power that AVID teachers hold in their hands: the ability
not only to change lives, but in the bigger picture, to change the
course of history.
AVID Center
provides districts and schools
with the curriculum, teaching
methodologies, and training
to prepare the least served
students for four-year college
eligibility and success.
Table contents
of
Letter from the Founder
2
Student Profiles
3
AVID Leader Profile
4
Superintendent Profiles
5
About Proof
6
About Expansion
8
About Quality
10
2005 Highlights
11
Mary Catherine Swanson, Founder
In 1980 Mary Catherine Swanson created AVID
to prepare the least served students in the academic
middle for four-year college entry. In 1992,
she founded the AVID Center to support and
disseminate the in-school program. Today, AVID is
evolving into a districtwide system and is regarded
as the only widely disseminated school redesign
program ever created by a public school teacher.
Letterthefrom
founder
Dear Colleagues:
In this 2005 Year in Review, we look back on the past year, AVID’s 25th anniversary, and
honor the extraordinary achievements of AVID administrators, teachers, and students
throughout the nation and the world.
Although AVID began in California, today it is a force in nearly 2,300 middle and high
schools across 36 states and 15 countries, transforming the lives of more than 122,000 students
others simply sold short.
Being truly data-driven continues to differentiate AVID, and in this publication you will find
an entire section devoted to AVID’s evidence base. Independent research shows that AVID
sends 77 percent of its graduates to four-year colleges and universities.
To support this growth, AVID Center has strengthened its national infrastructure by
bolstering our regional divisions and hiring more consultants and staff. And through AVID’s
collaboration with the College Board and its work with leading superintendents, we are
creating a comprehensive delivery system to raise achievement for all students.
Every day AVID students and their teachers embark on a quiet revolution, challenging ageold assumptions and belief systems about student achievement. They replace them with a new
narrative: that all students, no matter their zip code or color of skin, can transcend their most
difficult circumstances and achieve their fullest potential through individual determination,
hard work, and the support of and collaboration with their AVID teachers.
It is a journey that must continue, for our moral and economic position in the world depend
on it. And it is a journey on which we hope you will accompany us.
Sincerely,
Mary Catherine Swanson
Founder and Executive Director
Student
profiles
AVID All - Stars
I
Brenda Alonzo
Wichita State University
Wichita, KS
would not have graduated without AVID. In my situation, peer pressure reigned as
the major obstacle. When I started high school I knew that I wanted to be successful.
I liked school. But like every freshman, I also wanted to belong. A lot of my acquaintances
were involved in gang activities. I thought they were the only people to whom I could
relate. I saw everyone else as superior to me. Once I became caught up with a gang, it was
hard for me to stop my negative behavior. My grades suffered, my peers feared talking
to me, and worst of all, I let my family down. The situation reached the worst point one
night. I was shot. When we arrived at the hospital, I was bleeding heavily. I seriously
thought I was going to bleed to death. The doctors came in and said the bullet was in my
chest and that they were not going to take it out because it was lodged too close to my
heart and lungs. That night was the most painful, not only physically, but emotionally. Not
one of my “friends” showed up. Two months later I became pregnant with my son, and I
knew then I had to change. I could not continue living in filth when an innocent child was
depending on me. I made new friends, I went back to school and I gave my full effort. Both
semesters of my junior year, I earned a 4.0. Through all of this chaos, AVID was always
there. AVID showed me how to get back up on my own.
M
Fredrick Crawford
Sam Houston
State University
Huntsville, TX
y father died when I was a one-year-old and my mom became addicted to drugs
and left us with my grandma who was disabled and took care of us. At times my
grandma also left us at the crack house on the side of a club with my mom. We ate what
we shot and killed for ourselves. I had to walk the streets in disguise having to ask people
for money. My teachers did not pay any attention to me because they thought that I was
not smart enough to even pass their classes. I had flunked because I was in trouble all of
the time. All of these problems, especially the problems at home, made me turn to drugs
for comfort, which also made my life even worse. I became depressed and closed off to
the world because I started to depend on the drugs, and I thought nothing would change
my life. My life was nothing and the only example I followed was my mom who was not
at that time the type of role model I knew she could be. AVID has changed my world, the
world of my family, my friends, and those with whom I will come into contact for the rest
of my life. Thank you AVID for having the courage to never give up on us. Indeed, AVID
is changing the course of history through all of us. The many things that I have learned
are meant to be passed on and are meant to help people, because AVID not only helped me
but also changed the way I used to look at myself. I know and will always know my future
is bright. Today I am at Sam Houston State University, which is one of the most important
goals that AVID has helped me to accomplish.
See these students and many more
AVID All-Stars at www.avidonline.org/allstars
Claudia Jordan, Class of 1986
Claudia Jordan has a B.A. in
Liberal Studies and a Masters
in Educational Leadership from
San Diego State University.
Today, she is the vice principal
of San Diego’s Kimborough
Elementary School.
AVIDprofile
Leader
From AVID Tutor to AVID Teacher
to AVID Regional Specialist
M
y experience with AVID began in the spring of 1988. A teacher came to my
senior English class at Mar Vista High School in Imperial Beach, California and
asked if anyone was interested in being a tutor for AVID. I accepted this invitation and
became an AVID tutor in the fall of 1988 while studying mathematics at San Diego State
University (SDSU). After a couple of years of tutoring I decided to go into teaching. I
began teaching mathematics at Mar Vista High immediately following my graduation
from SDSU. I taught mathematics courses ranging from Pre-Algebra to AP Calculus
from the fall of 1993 to the spring of 2004.
Ricardo Gomez
AVID Regional Specialist
San Diego County
Office of Education
My decision to go into education was greatly influenced by AVID because I was able to
see the positive difference a program like AVID could make in students’ lives. Students
who had never considered going to college before joining AVID were accepted and
going to four-year schools.
In 2000, I began teaching a section of AVID at the school, which had become a National
Demonstration School and had grown from two sections to six sections with over 200
students. I was excited to join the AVID team that consisted of the AVID Coordinator,
another AVID teacher, and, of course, the AVID students. After a couple of years
teaching AVID I became the AVID Coordinator. During my time at Mar Vista, we
hosted visitors from different parts of the country wanting to see a model AVID program
and we sent countless numbers of under-represented students to four-year colleges.
About a year and a half ago, I began working at the San Diego County Office of
Education as an AVID Regional Specialist for the Southern part of our county. After
all these years I still greatly enjoy working with AVID and value seeing the positive
experiences students are enjoying in AVID middle and high school classes.
About
proof
61%
60%
50%
40%
30%
40%
100%
Long Beach Unified School District
Comparison of CAHSEE Pass Rates
for AVID vs. Non-AVID Sophomores
20%
70%
65%
(Class of 61%
2007) in 2004-2005
11%
90%
30%
60%
8%
10%
100%
6% 94%
50%
90%
83%
0
81%
40%
80%
Black/
Latino/
71%
30%
African-American
Hispanic
67%
70%
20%
61%
16% 14%
13%
60%
11%
8%
10%
6%
50%
0
40% Black/
Latino/
Other
White
African-American Hispanic
30%
2.000
AVID
1.000
7
5
748
Nationa
-9
-9
-9
98
White
96
Other
94
Latino/
Hispanic
3
5
-8
42
11%
6
441
377
213
13%
16%
85 14%
-9
20%LB
Non AVID
1
30%
9
AVID LB
40%
80
20
-0
50%
65%
61%
1
8% 0
10%
20%
6%
OTHER = American Indian or Alaskan Native, Asian American or Pacific Islander, or other.
0
All Figures were calculated on data obtained from the College Board.
10%
Black/
College Board AP Exams National Summary Report
African-American
0
http://www.collegeboard.com/student/testing/ap/exgrd_sum/2005.html
Math
ELA
BOTH
10
9
7
08
04
06
-0
-0
5
3
-0
1
-0
00
98
02
9
-9
-9
96
94
-9
7
5
3
-9
92
748
441
377
3.000
60%
National
-8
10
9
20
1,004
70%
92
1,902
1,460
4.000
80%
AVID
-9
2,643
90%
9
3,432
5.000
100%
90
Latino/
4,369
Hispanic
86
Black/
African-American
-8
0
213
AVID
Growth History
• Projecte
EthnicSite
Breakdown
of AP Test-takers
AVID vs. National
80%
88
6%
h History • Projected Through 2010
7
11%
8%
10%
32
Ethnic Breakdown of AP Test-takers
AVID vs. National
50%
20%
4,369
61%
60%
60%
OTHER = American Indian or Alaskan Native, Asian American or Pacific Islander, or othe
All Figures were calculated on data obtained from the College Board.
50%
College Board AP Exams National Summary Report
http://www.collegeboard.com/student/testing/ap/exgrd_sum/2005.html
Long Beach Unified School District (2004-2005).
Eighth Graders Enrolled in Algebra
Long Beach Unified School District
Comparison of CAHSEE Pass Rates
for AVID vs. Non-AVID Sophomores
(Class of 2007) inNEW2004-2005
MASSACHUSETTS
YORK
30%
ARIZONA
0
OKLAHOMA
NEW MEXICO
Math
ARKANSAS
BOTH
West
ELA
FLORIDA
TEXAS
East
Canada
Percent of Students Completing
Four-Year
College
HAWAII
Entrance Requirements
100%
AVID Divisions
GEORGIA
AVID
Texas and California :
AVID Center Annual Data Collection [Database].
California
(2004-2005). Graduating Class of 2004.
National Data:
West
Greene, J.P., Froster, G. "Public High School Graduation
FLORIDA
and College
Readiness Rates in theCentral
U.S." Manhattan
Institute, Educational Working PaperBC
3,CANADA
2004.
C
CALIFORNIA
19%
0
0
20
1
9
-0
08
5
07
06
-
10%
-0
1
-0
-9
EdWatch State Reports
SOUTH
0 http://www2.edtrust.org/edtrust/summaries2004/states.html
CAROLINA
AVID Texas
AVID California
National
UTAH
20%
00
9
7
-9
CAROLINA
5
AVID Center Annual
NORTH Data Collection [Database]. (2004-2005).
98
California
Central
Long Beach Unified School District (2004-2005).
20%
TENNESSEE10%
-9
AVID Divisions
GEORGIA
10%
NEVADA
30%
0
KENTUCKY
96
Non AVID LB
MISSOURI
KANSAS
60%
1,460
50%
Afric
61%
40%
36%
748
441
377
0
213
30% Charlotte-Mecklenburg
85
42
6
VIRGINIA
AVID
North Carolina Overall
1
3
20%
SOUTH
CAROLINA
1,004
DELAWARE
MARYLAND
94
30%
COLORADO
10%
1.000
40%
INDIANA
-8
ARKANSAS
ILLINOIS
-9
40%
NEW JERSEY
92
TENNESSEE
UTAH
19%
PENNSYLVANIA
20%
50%
AVID LB
NORTH
CAROLINA
1
KENTUCKY
50%
EVADA
1,902
04
2.000
60%
0
2,643
70%
CONNECTICUT
-9
VIRGINIA
NEW YORK
MICHIGAN
61%
90
60%
40%
70%
MARYLAND
OREGON
8
IDAHO
80%
MASSACHUSETTS
9
71%
67%
3,432
90%
86%
50%
80%
3.000
03
SOUTH DAKOTA DELAWARE
INDIANA
70%
MISSOURI
WISCONSIN
02
-
81%
NEW JERSEY
10%
100%
61%
92%
60%
90%
MINNESOTA
PENNSYLVANIA
83%
80%
ILLINOIS
4.000
-8
90%
IDAHO
4,369
70%
100%
CONNECTICUT
94%
7
MICHIGAN
88
100%
30%
AVID
SiteofGrowth
History
• Projected Through 2010
Percent
Students
Completing
Four-Year College
WASHINGTON
20%
5.000
80%
Eighth Graders Enrolled in Algebra
Entrance Requirements
90%
-8
WISCONSIN
100%
5
NGTON
40%
BC CANADA
86
OTA
80
BC CANADA
ARIZONA
Charlotte-Mecklenburg AVID
NEW M
North Carolina Overall
AVID Center Annual Data Collection [Database]. (2004-2005).
EdWatch State Reports
ALASKA
http://www2.edtrust.org/edtrust/summaries2004/states.html
East
WASHINGTON
Canada
HAWAII
3,432
3.000
Black/
African-American
2,643
2.000
1,460
1,004
1.000
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0
20
-0
10
9
7
08
04
06
-0
-0
5
3
00
02
-0
-0
1
9
-9
98
96
94
-9
-9
7
5
3
-9
1
92
-9
-8
88
90
9
7
-8
5
-8
80
85
42
6
1
86
0
60%
Javier studied at UC San Diego where he
graduated with both a Bachelor of Science
and a Masters in Mechanical Engineering.
He continued schooling to attain a doctorate
in Engineering from Lehigh University in
Pennsylvania. He currently works for an
engineering consulting firm in San Diego.
748
441
377
213
70%
Latino/
Hispanic
Javier Escobedo, Ph.D., Class of 1985
1,902
LB
VID LB
80%
0
A
OT
All
Co
htt
BC CANADA
WASHINGTON
100
OREGON
90
MINNESOTA
IDAHO
WISCONSIN
SOUTH DAKOTA
80
MASSACHUSETTS
NEW YORK
70
CONNECTICUT
MICHIGAN
60
PENNSYLVANIA
50
NEW JERSEY
NEVADA
UTAH
ILLINOIS
DELAWARE
INDIANA
40
MARYLAND
COLORADO
CALIFORNIA
30
VIRGINIA
MISSOURI
KANSAS
KENTUCKY
20
NORTH
CAROLINA
TENNESSEE
ARIZONA
OKLAHOMA
NEW MEXICO
10
SOUTH
CAROLINA
ARKANSAS
AVID Divisions
GEORGIA
California
TEXAS
ALASKA
West
FLORIDA
Central
East
HAWAII
60%
Canada
50%
40%
School District
SEE Pass Rates
VID Sophomores
2004-2005
30%
AVID Site Growth History • Projected Through 2010
20%
5.000
4,369
4.000
3,432
1,902
2.000
1,460
AVID LB
1,004
20
10
9
08
-0
07
06
-
-0
5
03
02
-
00
-0
1
748
9
-9
7
441
96
-9
5
377
94
3
213
92
-9
-9
1
90
-8
7
85
42
9
6
1
88
-8
80
-8
5
0
86
Non AVID LB
98
-9
1.000
BOTH
(2004-2005).
6%
Black/
African-Ame
2,643
04
61%
8%
0
81%
3.000
10%
California Highlights
Collaborations
California continues to implement AVID on
AVID Center and the College Board together are continuing
to support deep school reform and college preparation:
a large scale by adding over 150 new sites.
There were 1,215 AVID sites in 525 school
districts throughout the state for the 2005
school year. The most significant growth is
in the Los Angeles Unified School District.
Other Divisional Highlights
1. The Leadership Collaborative for College Readiness, an
ongoing program that will provide individual and group
support to superintendents as they implement the largescale organizational change of school reform.
2. An annual AVID/College Board National Conference for
superintendents, principals, school board members and
other educational leaders.
• AVID Center Eastern Division
continues to grow and to strengthen its
infrastructure. Based in Atlanta, Georgia,
this Division serves 75 school districts and
466 sites, in 15 states. Fastest growing
states: Florida, New York, North Carolina.
The Northeast is experiencing a growth surge.
• The Central Division added 22 new
school districts this year, bringing its total
number of school districts served to 75.
The Division based in Austin, Texas, serves
306 schools. The fastest growing states in
Other Alliances
In Canada, the AVID Center works collaboratively with
the Canada Millennium Scholarship Foundation and the
Chilliwack School District on a research project to study
AVID implementation in British Columbia. The five-year
study will yield strong evidence of AVID’s effectiveness and
will assist many Canadian families on the road to college
and university. Since the inception of the Gaining Early
Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs
(GEAR UP), AVID has served as a national model and has
been implemented through numerous GEAR UP partnerships
throughout the U.S.
this division include Illinois (Chicago leads
the charge here), Texas, and Minnesota.
• The Western Division has developed
rapidly, adding 12 new districts in the
U.S. and 15 Canadian districts through a
research project sponsored by the Canada
Millennium Foundation. The Division in
Denver, Colorado, now serves 198 sites.
The fastest growing states are Washington
(added 7 districts this year) and Nevada
(Clark County/Las Vegas now has 18 sites).
Program Growth
AVID Center starts fall 2005 with AVID in 2,280 sites spread
over 36 states and 15 countries (through the Department of
Defense Schools and in Canada). California has 1,215 sites
with the remaining 1,065 sites spread across the globe. In
the past year AVID added 482 new sites and 58 new school
districts. Six new states now offer AVID, including Alaska,
Minnesota, Missouri, Oregon, South Dakota, and Wisconsin.
Collaborations and Alliances
About
expansion
Julio Rios, Class of 1984, and Julio Rios, Jr.
Julio graduated from San Diego State University
with a degree in Engineering. More than a decade
later he was responsible for getting AVID started in
his older son’s middle school in Mesa, Arizona. He
later succeeded in launching AVID in Las Vegas for
his younger son. Julio currently is president and CEO
of InfoPage Integration Solutions, an engineering
company.
AVID Initiatives
The AVID Center engages in research and development designed to
improve support for schools and districts. As a result, new initiatives are
developed yearly and create new opportunities for students, teachers, and
district teams.
160 Students Receive $3.2 Million in Scholarships
Through the 2005 Dell Scholars Program, an initiative of the Michael
and Susan Dell Foundation, 160 AVID students were selected to receive
$20,000 scholarships to cover tuition, books and other expenses. In
addition to their scholarships, all of the students received a laptop, a
printer, and a backpack.
Support from Foundations and Corporations on the Rise
AVID depends on the generous support of foundations and corporations.
Major grants were renewed by the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation
($717,064) and the Michael Price Foundation (NY $395,190; NJ
$269,949). The Cargill Foundation supported AVID implementation
in Minnesota and provided funding for expansion of AVID in Wichita
(Kansas) Public Schools. In total, AVID Center raised more than $2
million from 50 foundations, corporations, and individuals, with the
largest number of corporate and foundation supporters coming from San
Diego County.
Data Collection
Ensures Accountability
In 2004-05, 122,420 students were
enrolled in the AVID elective at
middle schools and high schools
nationally. According to AVID
Center’s 2003-04 data collection,
there were 6,573 graduates of which
75 percent were accepted to fouryear colleges—a rate two to three
times higher than most states.
Schoolwide AVID
AVID’s system is designed to impact
an entire campus, creating a system
of support to strengthen the academic
environment. Key elements of
schoolwide AVID include multiple
sections of the AVID academic
elective, highly trained teachers and
tutors, a strong site team with a multiyear plan, and active administrative
participation.
Districtwide AVID
The AVID Center supports an
articulated effort to create a seamless
path to college in grades 4-12.
About
quality
Revised Quality Assurance Process
In 2003, AVID Center began to use consultants to
support quality implementation of programs across the
U.S. In 2005, that pool of consultants has been expanded
significantly and will represent a large portion of divisional
budgets. Consultants work with district directors as they
engage in their initial training; consultants also help
districts with their professional development plans, and
with direct support such as coordinator workshops, site team
meetings, conferences, and with administrative meetings.
In 2004, AVID Center piloted a revised certification
instrument and process to further guarantee quality.
Now, all districts and sites will participate in certification
and data collection online, with support from AVID
Center’s staff and consultants. The new certification
instrument is designed to provide a better tool for more
objectively measuring the effectiveness of AVID programs
and for site teams to self-examine the quality of their AVID implementation.
In 2005, AVID Center implemented the “2005-2006
Certification Report and Self-Study Continuum” which
certifies each AVID Essential as well as the overall site
program. Each Essential has several indicators which must
be met. All Essentials must be met at Level 1 for the site to
be certified. Also in 2005, all AVID divisions feature staff
or consultants focusing on the quality assurance process.
These individuals will work with AVID Center’s Director
of Advanced Programs to make sure that all quality pieces
are in place and necessary reports are provided to the
AVID Center.
Clarence Fields, Class of 1983
Clarence Fields graduated from the
University of Utah in 1988 with a
Bachelor of Arts in Consumer Studies.
Clarence is currently a Sales Manager
of Xerox Company and a member of
the AVID Center Board of Directors.
10
AVID District Leadership (ADL) training, a series of
four-week sessions taken over two years for AVID District
and Regional Directors, is offered in three divisions:
California, Central, and Eastern. The ADL team of AVID
Center trainers meet regularly to coordinate, update and
improve the sessions. In California as large districts expand
the number of schools implementing AVID, District
Liaisons are being identified. A specialized training session
for these liaisons will be offered to increase the level of
district support for AVID implementation and expansion.
AVID APIP Schools
In 2003 AVID Center received a federal Advanced
Placement Incentive Program (APIP) grant. Five high
schools in five different states (AZ, CA, KS, NC, TX)
were selected to participate in the grant. The goals of the
grant were to increase the number and quality of Advanced
Placement® courses offered, to increase the number of
low-income and minority students enrolled in AP courses
and taking AP exams, and to increase the support for more
low-income and minority students to be prepared and to
enroll in AP course by expanding and deepening their
AVID program.
The AVID Center has provided extensive professional
development for all the staff of these high schools through
large site teams (including AP teachers) attending AVID
Summer Institutes and by providing Write Path sessions in
the districts. One hundred percent of the school staff will
be trained in AVID strategies by the end of the three-year
grant. College Board training for all AP teachers has also
been supported as well as Vertical Team training. AVIDstyle tutorials conducted by trained college and peer tutors are
available to support all students taking AP courses and exams.
2005highlights
AVID Explores
AVID students at Florida’s Deltona Middle School went
on a field study to the Marine Discovery Center in New
Smyrna Beach, Florida. Students explored the Indian
River Lagoon Estuary on a 40-passenger pontoon boat
while learning about the area’s over 4,000 species of
plants and animals. The field study ended with a climb
up 170-plus stairs to the top of the Ponce de Leon
lighthouse, the tallest lighthouse in Florida.
Yale…Here We Come!
Dolan Middle School’s AVID students in Stamford,
Connecticut traveled to Yale University in October. As
they toured the campus, they learned about the endless
academic prospects, a wide range of both competitive
and intramural sports, and tales of superstition unique
to the university. Did you know if you rub the statue
of former Yale president, Timothy Dwight Woolsey,
before a test, you’ll have good luck? They also met one
of the university’s current medical students for a quick
question-and-answer session.
11
2005highlights
Lunchtime Tutoring
AVID students appreciate Colorado’s Westminster
High School’s new approach to tutoring. The AVID
classes are before and after lunch, leaving a lunch
hour open in between for tutoring in the AVID
Community Room with the site team and college
tutors. Students bring in their lunch and receive
support in their classes in order to feed their brains as
well as their stomachs.
Meet-the-Author!
There is nothing like meeting an author to
encourage, motivate, and inspire students to read!
While sophomore AVID students at ACORN
Community High School in Brooklyn, New York
were reading the novel, Like Sisters on the Homefront,
the author, Rita Williams-Garcia, came to class as a
guest speaker. They not only discussed the path Ms.
Williams-Garcia took to become a writer, but also
discussed the characters and plot. After each class,
Ms. Williams-Garcia signed autographs and posed
for photos with her adoring fans.
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Judy Riffle, Early AVID Tutor
and AVID Center Director of Finance
“It was such a pleasure to visit Clairemont
High with the original AVID Alumni, to reconnect and learn about what caring, happy
and successful adults they’ve become. They’re
all vibrant contributors to their workplaces,
communities and families. To me, AVID
alumni are the embodiment of hope and
possibility for our country’s future”.
53 AVID students accepted
to Chico State en masse
Fifty-three AVID students from Yuba City, Live Oak
and River Valley high schools were accepted en masse
in October by California State University, Chico. The
students were bused to the university to take part in
“On-the-Spot” admittance. Necol Harness, a California
program official, said, “There were a number of students
who wanted to get admitted to Chico State, but there
was a transportation issue, and the scariness of going
to the unknown, so I said, ‘Hey, let’s get a bus and take
them down there to register.’”
SAT Mini-Lessons
Three days a week, AVID students at E. E. Smith High
School in Fayetteville, North Carolina, are responsible
for designing mini-lessons that convey successful
strategies for the SAT. The student presenters are
videotaped and their lessons are broadcast to the
entire student body via television monitors. Not only
do other students receive effective tips and strategies
as they watch the AVID presentations, but the AVID
presenters gain knowledge from the required research
and preparation.
Real World Experience
Northern Illinois University students Irin Pruitt and
Ryan Shirley were selected as interns to the MetLife
Auto & Home® internship, which has a partnership
with the Freeport, Illinois chapter of AVID. Both
spent two summers at the Freeport facility completing
a program where they worked within several
departments. This past summer Pruitt and Shirley
flew to MetLife Auto & Home’s main office in order
to make a presentation before the company’s senior
management team.
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Rev. Jaime Escobedo, Class of 1984
Jaime Escobedo obtained a B.A. in
Philosophy from the University of San
Diego and a Bachelors in Sacred Theology
from the Pontifical Gregorian University
in Rome. He is now pastor of Our Lady
of Guadalupe Church in El Centro and Dean of the Imperial Valley in California.
Showing Off Civic Knowledge
Clary’s Tutorials
Students from the SEI (Sheltered English Instruction)
One of the strongest parts of the AVID program
AVID class at Cajon Valley Middle School in El Cajon,
at Clary Middle School in Syracuse, New York is
California presented as keynote speakers at the Center
the tutorial sessions. With students from Syracuse
for Civic Education National Conference in Washington
University, Cortland State, and Empire State College
D.C in June. They are now involved in part of a
serving as tutors, the program is thriving. Through
documentary that studies the roots of democracy and
their work with AVID, the tutors have not only been
constitutional history. This documentary will showcase
AVID methodologies and will be translated into a
number of languages.
Efforts Against Genocide
This year, the AVID class at Fremont High School
in Sunnyvale, California turned TAG (Teens Against
Genocide) into a campus-wide club in order to
involve other students to help victims of genocide.
Last year they raised money for the victims of
genocide in Darfur, Sudan, and this year they plan
to help victims of the 1994 Rwanda genocide as well
as continue to help Sudan. In the last two months of
the last school year, the students raised over $1,500
for the cause.
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able to help AVID students, but have been able to
determine the area of education they’d like to go into.
2005highlights
AVID Japan Awards
The first AVID Awards Banquet at Yokosuka Middle
School in Japan was held in May. The banquet was
a semi-formal, sit-down dinner with entertainment
and a distinguished guest speaker preceding the
awards and scholarship recognitions. In addition to
decorating and setting up, students also took the
photos, operated the audio/visual equipment, and
performed musical recitals and skits. The students
enjoyed teamwork, had fun, and were proud that
they were able to support the banquet through their
hard work and fundraising efforts.
AVID Valedictorian
Tremendous Growth in Riverside, California
AVID students continue to strive for and reach the top!
Arizona Middle School’s AVID program has
Jessica Potts, an AVID student from Stratford High
experienced tremendous growth and has tripled
School in Nashville, Tennessee was named Valedictorian of her 2005 senior class. Her speech conveyed the
close relationships formed in AVID and the promotion
in size in one year. AVID students outperformed
their non-AVID peers by maintaining a collective
of scholastic excellence in the Honors program and
academic GPA over 3.0 throughout the entire
Advanced Placement® courses. She also gave a special
year, having 100 percent enrollment in Algebra or
mention to the AVID family. She is now attending
Geometry, and achieving 100 percent promotion rate
David Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tennessee on a
$30,000 scholarship.
to the high school!
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2005highlights
Community
Commitment
AVID students at South High
School in Denver, Colorado
have been lending a hand in
many different ways. They are
required to complete eight
hours of community service
each semester, after which
they earn the privilege of
placing their handprint on the
AVID room wall. Perhaps at
the end of each school year, all
AVID students will have their
handprints decorating the wall.
Brooklyn Center High School began the first
Saluting Teachers
AVID in the Community
The AVID students at Rossview High School in Clarks-
During the past year, the AVID students of Texas’ Edinburg
High School made a real difference in the community.
When one of the school security officers was involved in a
life-threatening motorcycle accident, AVID students raised
donations to assist in paying his medical bills. Students also
helped the Rio Grande Valley Food Bank to assist survivors of
Hurricane Katrina, helped make Escandon Elementary’s Fall
Festival a success, and helped feed the needy at the annual “Feast
of Sharing.” During Christmastime AVID students participated
in “Adopt a Grandparent.” The students look forward to keeping
these traditions of community involvement alive.
ville, Tennessee honored their most helpful teachers by
presenting them with the “AVID Tip of the Cap” award.
Teachers were nominated for reasons such as academic
help, compassion for students, and outstanding effort.
AVID students wanted to recognize those teachers who
really made a difference in getting the AVID student closer
to graduation and wearing that cap!
Yolanda Bogarin, O.D., Class of 1986
Yolanda Bogarin graduated from
UC Santa Barbara in 1991 with
a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology.
She continued schooling at Indiana
University where she attained a
doctorate in Optometry. Yolanda is now
an optometrist in Miami, Florida.
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Expansion in Minnesota
AVID program in Minnesota after receiving a
four-year grant from the Cargill Foundation,
whose mission is: “Preparing the Next
Generation for Success in School, Work and
Life.” Nearly a fifth of the high school staff
attended the Summer Institute in San Diego.
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AVID CENTER
5120 Shoreham Place,
Suite 120
San Diego, CA 92122
Phone: 858-623-AVID (2843)
Fax: 858-623-2822
AVID CENTRAL DIVISION
14205 N. Mopac, Suite 445
Austin, TX 78728
Phone: 512-255-5211
Fax: 512-255-7366
AVID EASTERN DIVISION
2300 Henderson Mill Road,
Suite 330
Atlanta, GA 30345
Phone: 770-493-9155
Fax: 770-493-9029
AVID WESTERN DIVISION
8301 East Prentice Avenue,
Suite 303
Greenwood Village, CO 80111
Phone: 303-741-0134
Fax: 303-741-0135
www.avidonline.org