A celebration of achievement for AVID students
Posted on 06/15/2016
As the school year nears an end there are many celebrations of success going on throughout the district.
One celebration happening in many Puyallup schools is the recognition and graduation of students participating in the Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) program.
Recently, Puyallup High School held a graduation celebration for AVID students and their families. Led by Puyallup AVID teacher Jordan Cockle, the year-end celebration recognized students for their hard work and provided an opportunity to say farewell to the AVID seniors. The meeting was attended by Puyallup High School Principal David Sunich, Assistant Principal Miguel Perez, Assistant Principal Maija Thiel, Assistant Principal Lorraine Hirakawa, and Chief Equity and Achievement Officer Gerald Denman.
After a brief video featuring each of the students, they were called up individually to receive a certificate of achievement. Seniors each received a framed gift containing a quote from Henry David Thoreau. The seniors who earned a 3.0 or greater grade point average while in AVID for all three years at Puyallup High received an AVID honor cord.
Cockle recognized the Puyallup High AVID team and thanked them for supporting one another and the students throughout the school year. “They’ve been a phenomenal team doing great stuff with major benefits to all AVID students,” Cockle said.
Counselor Nicole Berryman spoke to the group about the AVID family relationship with feeder junior high schools. Aylen Junior High ninth-grade AVID students were recently invited to Puyallup High to meet with other AVID students already enrolled in the program. They talked about the benefits of continuing to be enrolled in AVID classes through their high school years.
At the secondary level, AVID is an elective class college preparation program that has helps underrepresented students who are performing "in the middle" make their way toward higher education by helping with note taking, time management, finding scholarships and filling out financial aid forms, to name a few. Each week, students enrolled in the program receive two days of AVID curriculum instruction, two days of tutor-led study groups, and one day of motivational activities, guest speakers, and field trips to colleges.
In recent years AVID has been expanded to the elementary schools in grades 4-6 with 16 of 21 elementary schools currently offering AVID. The district is continuing to expand AVID and plans to offer it to all elementary schools within the next few years.
Throughout the district trained AVID teachers grow AVID school-wide as they share with staff members strategies for helping all students learn organization skills, how to take notes effectively, and time management and student success strategies.