Being a high school student these days is no easy job, but at Timberline High School there’s a program to help them learn the skills needed to be successful. What started in California in the 1980s as a way to help kids get the resources they needed, is now a series of classes full of students preparing for college. The AVID program came to the North Thurston Public Schools seven years ago, but is used worldwide to help aid students who may need that extra leg up. “AVID is not geared toward a particular student, but often underrepresented students – students first in the family to go to college, minority status students, or sometimes income can be a factor,” AVID advisor Rob Denning tells me.
Once enrolled in the program, high school students learn about the five hallmarks of AVID – writing, inquiry, collaboration, organization, and reading. This translates to developing reading strategies, focused note taking, or maybe even the simple task of keeping a daily planner. Denning explains, “A lot of things that help students be more developed in their ownership of learning are not always easy. There’s some resistance. Not every kid likes to take and review their own notes.”
“I kind of feel like I have an advantage over people and it looks good on resumes. I think of it like a challenge, but then again an advantage,” Timberline AVID sophomore Diego Delgado tells me. “I think that it’s weird, until you think about how it’s going to turn out in the end. You don’t really like the process, but you like the end result,” adds student Hope Linnville.
The end result everyone hopes for is the students will attend a four-year university or college of their choice upon graduation. In fact, it is a requirement to at least apply to a four-year university, but Denning tells me they don’t discourage community colleges or tech schools either. The AVID faculty just wants to see these kids live up to their true potential. “I can tell you stories of all these different kids who, without AVID, it would be pretty unlikely they would be where they are now.” Denning adds that they stay in touch with previous students after graduation because they’ve really gotten to know the students on a deeper level and want to know how their futures play out. In fact, he shares this is what keeps him participating in the program himself. “Teaching the AVID elective was the most rewarding, but the most difficult thing I’ve done as a teacher, without a doubt.”
I can understand how rewarding it would be just after speaking with a few of the students in the program. Tenth grader Kolbie Thompson tells me, “It helps in the long run…I never really thought about going to college. I hadn’t thought so far into it until I got into AVID and I started reading more into it and thought this is something that would be good for jobs I want to get.” Kolbie went from someone who wasn’t even thinking about college to a student who now says he’s considering becoming a forensic science technician. He tells me he would recommend the program to anyone, and in fact his younger sister is following him by starting the program this year.
Because AVID is very geared towards encouraging students to attend college, learning about campus life is extremely important. Throughout the program, Timberline students receive information from a variety of schools in Washington and visit college campuses whenever possible. “The college visits are really effective. Before I was in AVID I wasn’t even considering going into a college in Washington, but we always have presentations as well as visits and the presentations made me reconsider that,” says student Madison Woodard.
Denning says senior year concludes with an overnight visit to a university, which of course costs money and funds are limited. So for the first time, the Timberline AVID program is hosting their own fundraiser. “I’m excited to raise money so we can do more things than we did last year,” Madison shares.
On Saturday November 18, from 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m., Timberline AVID students will host the second-annual Mother-Son Night of Fun. The event is just $15 at the door for two people ($25 max per family) and there will be plenty to keep both moms and sons occupied. Any mother figure or other caring adult can bring a child ages Pre-K to 5th grade. Once inside, you can choose from a variety of physical activities including an inflatable obstacle course, tug-of-war, hoop shoot, and emergency vehicle displays. There will also be a cake walk, board game & coloring room, and karaoke. Concessions will be available for purchase at the Booster Club concession stand, and a sword & eyepatch kit will be available for $5.
The goals of the event remain the same as last year: “We’re hoping to have another great turnout and a lot of good positive energy for building community. Moms and boys get to have fun on a date night together. There aren’t many things that are planned this way. All of this helps support our college and career readiness goals for our AVID program.”
Sponsors for this year’s event include Olympic Psychology Services, South Sound Framing, Lacey Thrive Community Fitness, Gundersen Dental Care, and Moss-Wall Orthodontics.
The AVID program is also now being offered in all North Thurston Public Schools middle and high schools as an elective and at a few of the other area high schools. If you would like more information about AVID, you can visit their website. And be sure to visit the Timberline High School website to learn more about the Mother-Son Night of Fun.
