Hugh McMillan’s Kids Corner: Volunteers make kids AVID for learning

I’ve been exposed to the AVID program for years. Have even done an article or two on it. But, in all honesty, I’ve never felt I really understood it. Here’s a shot at clarification for all of us not so well informed.

Explained Key Peninsula Middle School AVID instructor Rachelle Welander, “Advancement Via Individual Determination in the middle school is a great start to help students build awareness of why lifelong learning, goal setting, and self-awareness are so important to more than just school. It makes them excited about their future.

“Kids in AVID go through a process to be here. They get an invitation to apply, go through an interview process, and selection happens using a variety of criteria. Once in class, we explore and utilize the skills needed for post high school opportunities. Students learn how to communicate with teachers in a way resembling speaking with a boss or a professor. Giving short speeches, both impromptu and planned, helps with public speaking or for some, just speaking up in general. Critical thinking is also encouraged through research on certain topics and then discussing the aspects of these topics in Socratic seminar style.”

At Key Peninsula Middle School, students were enthusiastic about AVID.

“AVID has helped me keep my grades up and stay organized,” Lexani Perez said. “It has kept me on track for my goal of going to college.”

Trenton Fritz feels, “AVID helps me be organized and keeps my grades in check. This will help me be prepared for high school and eventually college.”

To Morgan Guy, “AVID helps me to set and achieve goals. It also helps me be social and I am an introvert.” For Sami Jones, “AVID not only helps me plan my future, but is helping me get to my future.”

And Marisol Torres-Alcantar nailed it with, “When you are stressed about school, AVID helps by doing tutorials when you’re confused. It helps focus on your GPA and keeps me on track turning in assignments even if they’re late. AVID also helps with notetaking and communicating with people with whom I would not normally communicate in tutorials when you help them and they help you as well as in group activities. AVID is an amazing class.”

Rob Milroy, past president of Communities In Schools, is in his fifth year as a volunteer AVID mentor at Peninsula High School. He notes, “An important part of the AVID program is participation of adults from the community as mentors for groups of students. Adults impart ‘life skills’ gained through their own experiences as opposed to academic knowledge, providing students social and emotional skills required to be successful in life.

”As a mentor ,you will be thanked profusely by students for your contributions as a volunteer,” added Milroy. “You will end the program thanking the students for allowing you to participate in the program as they ready for the next phase of their lives. You will be welcomed warmly, treated with respect and appreciated for the wisdom and thought processes you bring to the them. This was indeed a major highlight of my retirement!”

For Harbor Ridge Middle School AVID teacher Tammy Channel, “A major part of the AVID program includes tutorial groups. However, adult volunteers are not tutors. These groups are really student-led study groups in which adults are facilitators. The adults need no actual knowledge of the academic subjects. Students can do the study groups themselves, but the feedback and camaraderie the adults provide during the sessions are invaluable. While teaching AVID over the last three years, my appreciation for the tutor’s role has grown exponentially.”

To HRMS student Nikolas Bell, “AVID helps kids with great potential. Most kids have great things inside them but these things never show and AVID helps us show those things and encourages us to work at our full potential.” Schoolmate Radley Anderson thinks, “It’s pretty cool. I always have fun and it’s a great way to meet new people.”

For student Kylie Lyon, “Avid can be difficult because it challenges my bad habits like talking during class. It’s also a great way to meet new people.” To Isaac Gordy, “AVID is a class that helps you stay focused, and helps you to improve on the stuff you think you need to improve on, like grades!” Delilah Tucker Eidinger feels, “AVID has helped me learn to stay organized. It might not look like it now, but I used to just have random papers everywhere. It’s great! Being more organized has helped me a lot because now I know where all the things I need are.”

Said Cameron Nelick, “AVID helps develop good habits that help me collaborate and come up with ideas.” For Keaton Flanders, “AVID has helped me get better at working in groups and teams. I am getting better at being organized.”

”AVID is teaching us how to use social skills in life,” said HRMS student Maya Valdez. “It gives us perspectives for later in life, especially college.” Jacob Hutchings feels, “AVID helps improve our communication and collaboration skills which are important now and later. Learning how to set goals has been my biggest growth so far.”

For Nevaeh Pandilla-Grandorff, “It teaches us life skills that can help us in college and afterwards.” Schoolmate Dane Olive asserted, “AVID is helping me prepare for college and high school. It teaches valuable social skills. My self skills have improved in just the last two months.”

To KPMS’ Welander, “Setting seeds for future planning encompasses much of what AVID does. We go on field trips to different technical schools, colleges, and universities. Last year we visited PLU and Clover Park Technical School. This year we head to University of Puget Sound and Olympic Community College. Also with career-mindedness, we invite guest speakers in once a month based on student interests. In the past two years, we’ve had veterinarians, a career counselor, a lawyer, police officers, detectives, an engineer, an astronomer, a voice actor, a chef, an emergency room and neonatal nurse, a Marine and more.”

If you would like to change the life of a student, consider volunteering in an AVID classroom two hours a week on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Additional mentors are needed at: Harbor Ridge Middle School, 8:45 – 9:45 a.m.; Key Peninsula Middle School, 12:07 – 12:52 p.m.; and Peninsula High School, 11:05 – 12:00 and 1:05 – 2:00 p.m.

Please contact Erin O’Neill at 253-530-1077 or oneille@psd401.net.

This story was originally published December 18, 2019 at 12:00 AM.