At Sedro-Woolley High School, the AVID program is not just helping students stay organized, but also helping students better connect to the community.
The AVID program helps students stay organized with strategies such as using a binder and taking notes. This also helps them study and prepare for tests in a more efficient way, learning how to socialize, presenting in class with more confidence, and making friends.
Taelor Heinrichs, a freshman at Sedro-Woolley High School, has been an AVID student since 7th grade. She says AVID has helped her with friendships and staying connected to the community.
“The thing that I have taken in from AVID is the way it has brought me closer to my community and the way I am able to talk to others without having an issue,” says Heinrichs. “AVID has helped me build relationships that I never thought I would have, for some of my strongest relationships have come from being in AVID since the beginning of seventh grade.”
Teachers and students at Sedro-Woolley High School agree that the AVID program helped students stay more organized throughout their years in school. The AVID teacher stays with their class throughout the years and this creates a better bond to help them in a more effective way.
Amanda Czaban is an 11th grade AVID teacher at Sedro-Woolley High School. She helps her students be prepared to graduate and get into a decent college.
“Study skills, organization, critical reading skills, and more. Most importantly, we talk about college and what is needed to both be prepared and be successful once you graduate.”
The AVID program has also helped students study and be prepared for SAT and ACT tests, so they can have a better chance of getting into their college of choice. This can help the students hopefully get into their dream college.
“Learning these skills will help me in the future to do better in college. Knowing the studying skills for SAT & ACT testing will help me with getting a better score therefore I will have a better chance at getting into the college of my choice,” says Heinrichs.
The students get asked SAT prep questions to help the students be more prepared. These teachers also help the students strategies by having journal entries, study time, and tutorials. These are used to help the students get into a routine, and be more prepared.
“We have routines like tutorials, academic study time, SAT prep questions, journal entries, etc. Having a routine is one way to help stay organized for both me and my AVID students,” says Czaban.
Travis Johns also helps students with managing money. He wants to help them not get into debt and save money to have a better lifestyle. He teaches 12th grade AVID, and he has taught these students since their freshman year.
“I hope I shared with my classes AVID that being smart with your money involves having a plan,” says Johns. “ that student loan debt should be used as a last resort and understand that the loans need to be paid back.”
Czaban and Taelor have also both talked about how the program might not be the best for everyone. It might not fit someone’s career path.
“AVID is an amazing program for some students, but not all. I definitely recommend it to any student who is interested in attending college after high school and wants or needs a built-in support system in their school day,” says Czaban.
Johns has thought about happiness, their phones and how they are not the best for us. He also talks about how we need to be grateful and generous.
Johns said, “The key to happiness is not how successful you are or how much you have but rather being content, grateful and generous (test not me that is scientific data).”
Johns has a point about how phones are affecting us in a negative way. He wants to teach this point to help his AVID students be happier with more than just school, grades, and their future.
“Our phones are sucking the life and time out of us,” says Johns.
