AVID provides support for college-bound students
The Advanced Via Individual Determination [AVID] program has helped countless first-generation college-bound students in the Conejo Valley School District. AVID’s goal as a program is to increase academic readiness for undersupported or underdirected students and prepare them for their college and career lives as they work through high school. AVID has been implemented in thousands of schools since its creation, and has aided millions of students, 320 of which are currently enrolled in CVUSD classrooms.
Eileen Moore, coordinator for Thousand Oaks High School’s AVID program, has been working with AVID students for two years. Moore expressed the importance of AVID and its goals for students, commenting on the opportunities it provides. “It opens doors and broadens horizons, giving a boost to confidence and a willingness to accept and overcome challenges,” Moore said.
The coordinator for Newbury Park High School’s AVID program, Miles Minton, has been a coordinator for two years and has built bonds with students through the program. “My favorite part about being an AVID teacher is the relationships that you build with students,” Minton said. AVID coordinators go through training and conferences to gain the skills needed to help students develop in the program. “[AVID] prepares students for college and career readiness and being worldwide members of a democratic society,” Minton said.
Dezmariah Reyes, NPHS junior, gained organizational and time management skills in the AVID program while simultaneously learning about college early in the application process. “I gained skills and confidence that will help me succeed both in school and later in life,” Reyes said. The AVID system keeps students in cohorts, meaning they advance through the program together, providing bonds between students. “AVID has given me opportunities to meet and work with other motivated students, which helps me learn from them and stay focused on my goals,” Reyes said.
The AVID program helps students feel prepared for their futures, impacting teachers who are able to watch the students’ growth over time. “[The most rewarding part of AVID] is to watch [students] believe in themselves and empower themselves despite any educational or cultural hurdles they may have found daunting in the past,” Moore said.
