I was blessed to go to a high school that had the AVID program even though when I received the letter that I had been nominated in eighth grade I was not sure what it was. For those who don't know, Advancement Via Individual Determination is a college readiness program. The goal of it is not to help you get into college, but to prepare you for college and the future. In my district, there are only two high schools that have the program. So in eighth grade, I received a letter that I had been nominated by some of my teachers and they looked at some of test scores for high schools. From there, I went to a meeting about it and eventually I had an interview. Weeks later, in the mail I received an acceptance letter.
From day one of freshman year, the topic was college. We were freshman, visiting multiple colleges a year. On Mondays and Wednesdays, we had lessons maybe like socratic seminars, projects, etc. Tuesdays and Thursdays were tutorials. Now, it wasn't a time to do homework, but rather work with a group to ask questions to help figure out the point of confusion. We had to fill out a form prior to class time. Groups were divided by subjects and each group had a tutor. Once in senior year, things changed a bit. On Fridays, there were binder checks and guest speakers. Every week, we had to fill out learning logs only if we didn't take cornell notes. We were required to take cornell notes at least once. Also, on Tuesday a teacher would come with a form if someone had a D or F in class.
Having to fill out learning logs and do binder checks was annoying. Sometimes I complained about the work, but at the end of day, I don't know how my high school experience would be if I hadn't been in AVID. Because of AVID, I visited so many colleges starting in freshman year. During junior year, we took a two-day spring break trip to visit six colleges. Knowing me, I would've waited until senior year to think about college. Because of AVID, I thought of college every day of all four years of high school. I felt special being in such an amazing program ( we are even going to be recognized during our graduation practice). Through tutorials, I learned to work with others, ask higher level questions, and be independent to know when I needed help to go up and not wait for a tutor to call me up. Also, I learned to be responsible for during my tutorials on time and to take notes while my classmates presented. From freshman year up to the beginning of senior years this was our TRF (on the back, there would be reflection questions):
Then later on senior year, we could write our own and we formed our own groups. The point was to make it seem like a college study group.
Binder checks taught me to be responsible to do my learning logs, do cornell notes, and for my binder checks. My binder had to have dividers with each class written in a label. Papers had to be dated and in chronological order. I had to have a pencil case and an assignment notebooks.
Lastly, on Mondays and Wednesdays we practiced writing and reading skills. There were projects we worked independent and had to present in front of the class. They made sure that what they taught us would help us be prepared for the new world after high school.
I met awesome teachers and made great friends.
So thank you AVID for making high school more bearable because without it, I don't know if I would've survived all four years.
