HOOD RIVER — Three AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) students — seniors Araceli Lopez and Giselle Gonzalez, and sophomore Wilfrano Solano — inspired happy tears during a program update presented at the Feb. 8 Hood River County School District board meeting.
The students were joined by Director of Curriculum and Instruction Bill Newton, Assistant Director of Curriculum and Instruction Amy McConnell and Doug Beardsley, AVID site leader at Hood River Valley High School.
The district is going from four to eight AVID schools next fall, said Newton, which will enhance what each school is already doing. “You see (students) actually working alongside and supporting one another in order to be able to navigate problems that they may be having in class, real life problems that they’re having with assignments, and supporting and really advocating and helping each other — it’s a really cool thing to watch,” he said. “On the other side, then there are educators doing more, insisting on greater breaking down of barriers and advocating for students.”
Brown said that on March 2, secondary teams will attend an AVID showcase in Portland; elementary teams will visit an AVID elementary classroom on April 13. In the summer, 40 staff members will attend the AVID Summer Institute, “a really cool experience where we get to learn together, and then spend the afternoons just planning how we are going to implement this in the following year,” she said.
The Cascade Locks team will additionally help train elementary staff.
“I’m proud of our teachers for doing this, proud of our district for continuing to put this effort in,” said Board President Corinda Hankins Elliott. “It’s not one that is easy. We’re getting more teachers every year trying to learn all of these techniques. But I do think it’s such a wonderful lens to look through.”
AVID at HRV
Beardsley said in the last five years, AVID has grown from two elective classes to seven at the high school and “is a program that puts future leaders into our community. It’s a tangible proof of the equity work that we’ve all committed to here within the district.
“… We have another celebration this year: Our very first college students, who have gone through the entirety of our AVID program, from middle school to high school, will be graduating college this year,” he said. “It has been so awesome to get to continue my relationship with them, to bring them into the classroom so that our current students can see what some of their trials and tribulations, but also a lot of their successes, are.”
Introducing the three students, he said, “It should also be noted that the accolades that they’re going to share with you today are a direct result of the work that my colleagues continue to provide as educators and staff members … It is hard for me to try to get their resumes onto one page. I wouldn’t want to go up against them in a job interview.”
Solano spoke first, saying, “AVID showed me another path to becoming a better student … AVID has encouraged me to keep going when times get hard,” he said.
Lopez began the AVID program in seventh grade at Wy’east and is the oldest in her family. “I spent my childhood, and still do spend my days caring for my siblings and assisting my parents as much as possible,” she said.
“These parts of my life are chaotic. Many consider these barriers, but because of AVID and my ambition, I realized that they were merely hurdles,” she said. “Truth be told, I shouldn’t be expected to leave Hood River. Born to teen parents, it was not expected that I would leave this town. However, I am now waiting for 14 college decision letters and am preparing for my interview with Princeton University. I am on track to be valedictorian, and I am vice president of several clubs at the high school. I’ve managed to do all of this, especially with the life I have. Everything that I have accomplished was with the help of Mr. Beardsley, and the AVID program.”
Gonzalez, who is ASB president and serves as one of the board’s student envoys, said she will be the first in her family to attend college. She plans to pursue a bachelor’s degree in nursing.
“I would have never imagined myself been here today giving this speech, let alone becoming an ASB president of our school. And this is all thanks to my teachers and peers who encouraged me to do so,” she said. “… I have a family with my other peers who have the same intentions that I do. We don’t intend to graduate high school. We don’t intend on making it to college, we intend to graduate college. We have choices about post-secondary opportunities.
“I knew that I was capable of doing something more after high school — after all, I gained all the skills I needed to be successful,” she said. “And I’m able to maintain a 4.0 GPA during my four years, I’ve become an officer for two clubs, co-captain of the girls basketball team, and still work two jobs throughout the year, proving to myself that I’m capable of making it to college.”
The board broke into applause at the conclusion of the presentation.
“Where’s the tissues?” said Board Member Tom Scully as he wiped his eyes. “You guys are just incredible. And I can’t thank you enough for all the work you’ve done. And all the kids you’ve helped through this. It’s just an inspiration.”
Board Vice Chair Chrissy Reitz was also visibly moved. “It is so amazing for me to see a program that we (as a board have) supported, the actual results of that program,” she said. “And I know there’s a lot between that decision to support this program and where you guys are — teachers and administrators and friends and, mostly your hard work.”
Beardsley said that the AVID program “might be the first time in their life where they had somebody say, ‘This is something that you can do. This is a place where you belong. There’s a pathway for you. And details aside, you can have that.’ And if you can create that ambition at a seventh or eighth grade level, there’s nothing more powerful in any student’s arsenal than hope.”
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