Any of your kids in the high school AVID program?

[PandaBear]

I wasn't in one when I was in HS (my HS didn't have this program) so I am not familiar with it. Any review of how it goes for your kids and whether they really do like what they said in their website?

For those of you who want to say "college is not everything" I understand your point, I get it. This is about the quality of the AVID program instead of "should you go to college". Please don't hijack the discussion.

 

[wander2039]

My youngest is in AVID. I don't know if it was AVID for this one or just my children... between 8th and 9th grade it's like a switch flips and suddenly their 4.0 students. My youngest isn't much of a conversationalist so I don't hear much about it. I'll see if I can extract any comments besides grunt and one syllable words tonight.

 

[SC Maintenance]

I had to google what it is - they call it CTE here - Career & Technology Education (CTE). If I understand what my wife tells me correctly its basically an advanced version of shop / culinary from back in our day - with other things added. They do everything from hair dresser to IT here, and there are some options for internships.

If your thinking of sending your kids I would honestly go ask around. We have 3 high schools here and according to my teacher wife one of the 3 get way more funding for it than the other 2. So it likely varies a lot by school / program.

I think its a good thing to give kids options. Some kids are not going to college and they know it. Especially poor kids or from broken homes that know they will have no help - might as well find a way to make it on there own early. My wife says she sees a lot of kids go to college for one year then stop because they run out of money. If you take one of these programs there is absolutely nothing stopping you from college later - you just might have to start with more prerequisites at a community college.

 

[cptbarkey]

It sounds like a HS college prep course. They didnt really have that in my HS in the 90s, it was sink or swim.

 

[Pew]

I had to google what it is - they call it CTE here - Career & Technology Education (CTE). If I understand what my wife tells me correctly its basically an advanced version of shop / culinary from back in our day - with other things added. They do everything from hair dresser to IT here, and there are some options for internships.

If your thinking of sending your kids I would honestly go ask around. We have 3 high schools here and according to my teacher wife one of the 3 get way more funding for it than the other 2. So it likely varies a lot by school / program.

I think its a good thing to give kids options. Some kids are not going to college and they know it. Especially poor kids or from broken homes that know they will have no help - might as well find a way to make it on there own early. My wife says she sees a lot of kids go to college for one year then stop because they run out of money. If you take one of these programs there is absolutely nothing stopping you from college later - you just might have to start with more prerequisites at a community college.

I think that's different, those are more like "shop class". Avid seems more like a college prep style, but specifically tailored to a kid who wants to do better but struggles academically with their grades. It sounds similar to classes I was in to help me with schoolwork, but as an individual instead of a group of 10 or so kids.

 

[SC Maintenance]

I think that's different, those are more like "shop class". Avid seems more like a college prep style, but specifically tailored to a kid who wants to do better but struggles academically with their grades. It sounds similar to classes I was in to help me with schoolwork, but as an individual instead of a group of 10 or so kids.

OK, that makes sense. I guess we don't have it here because we do early college and after school tutoring if needed.

 

[PandaBear]

I had to google what it is - they call it CTE here - Career & Technology Education (CTE). If I understand what my wife tells me correctly its basically an advanced version of shop / culinary from back in our day - with other things added. They do everything from hair dresser to IT here, and there are some options for internships.

If your thinking of sending your kids I would honestly go ask around. We have 3 high schools here and according to my teacher wife one of the 3 get way more funding for it than the other 2. So it likely varies a lot by school / program.

I think its a good thing to give kids options. Some kids are not going to college and they know it. Especially poor kids or from broken homes that know they will have no help - might as well find a way to make it on there own early. My wife says she sees a lot of kids go to college for one year then stop because they run out of money. If you take one of these programs there is absolutely nothing stopping you from college later - you just might have to start with more prerequisites at a community college.

It is not CTE for sure, they say they want to make sure you are going to college if you want to join AVID otherwise it is not what the program is about.

 

[Astro14]

I had to google what it is - they call it CTE here - Career & Technology Education (CTE). If I understand what my wife tells me correctly its basically an advanced version of shop / culinary from back in our day - with other things added. They do everything from hair dresser to IT here, and there are some options for internships.

If your thinking of sending your kids I would honestly go ask around. We have 3 high schools here and according to my teacher wife one of the 3 get way more funding for it than the other 2. So it likely varies a lot by school / program.

I think its a good thing to give kids options. Some kids are not going to college and they know it. Especially poor kids or from broken homes that know they will have no help - might as well find a way to make it on there own early. My wife says she sees a lot of kids go to college for one year then stop because they run out of money. If you take one of these programs there is absolutely nothing stopping you from college later - you just might have to start with more prerequisites at a community college.

It is very, very different than CTE.

I have given several talks to AVID classes at a local high school. Long story short, the wife of a former sailor teaches at-risk kids. the combination of my career path, which is attractive to many, and the success that my children have had academically, prompted the invitation. They are great kids. They need someone to show them the way to future success.

AVID is a program designed to mentor, guide, and encourage children who lack role models at home. To help them work to their potential.

I am not suggesting that the OP kids lack a role model at home. But the program focuses on kids who would not otherwise be eligible for higher education, because of their academic performance prior to the program.

https://www.avid.org/

 

[Astro14]

I wasn't in one when I was in HS (my HS didn't have this program) so I am not familiar with it. Any review of how it goes for your kids and whether they really do like what they said in their website?

For those of you who want to say "college is not everything" I understand your point, I get it. This is about the quality of the AVID program instead of "should you go to college". Please don't hijack the discussion.

To reply directly to your question, I was impressed with the quality of the program. I visited and talked with the AVID kids on several occasions over the course of many years.

What impressed me about the kids, and this was a reflection on the program itself, is that despite being sixth and seventh graders, who are known for being fidgety and disruptive, these kids were well behaved, attentive, and polite.

They were not what I expected. I genuinely enjoy talking with them. I believe the teacher in question has moved on to other things, since she is now an administrator, and I stopped talking with them during Covid when classrooms were virtual. I’ll be honest, it is my loss. Those kids are great, and I enjoyed speaking with them.

This entire thread has prompted me to reach out to that teacher to see if I could still be of assistance to their program.

At the core of the program is giving the kids the tools they need to be successful in life. While the program was focused on getting them to college, via improving their academic performance in junior high and high school, I think the foundation for future success was being laid by the teachers in the classroom climate they had created for those children.

 

[JeffKeryk]

My grand nieces were in AVID in HS. There was no education in their family until a few years back when I became involved after their father died. They are doing well at Cabrillo Community College in Capitola. I have promised to support their advanced studies if they continue to work. The twin girls are gifted, but without work nothing will happen. So far so good.

 

[MVAR]

To reply directly to your question, I was impressed with the quality of the program. I visited and talked with the AVID kids on several occasions over the course of many years.

What impressed me about the kids, and this was a reflection on the program itself, is that despite being sixth and seventh graders, who are known for being fidgety and disruptive, these kids were well behaved, attentive, and polite.

They were not what I expected. I genuinely enjoy talking with them. I believe the teacher in question has moved on to other things, since she is now an administrator, and I stopped talking with them during Covid when classrooms were virtual. I’ll be honest, it is my loss. Those kids are great, and I enjoyed speaking with them.

This entire thread has prompted me to reach out to that teacher to see if I could still be of assistance to their program.

At the core of the program is giving the kids the tools they need to be successful in life. While the program was focused on getting them to college, via improving their academic performance in junior high and high school, I think the foundation for future success was being laid by the teachers in the classroom climate they had created for those children.

My son is a junior at a high-performance charter school in CA (school was founded and managed by UC Davis). The kids are forced to take AVID by the state but the class is only there to grade their note taking abilities and provides nothing to their program. Sounds like AVID is run differently area to area as it's a wasted program forced onto my son's school. The mentoring and life advancement parts all come in different forms at his school between other HS classes, programs and their college courses. It's good to hear that it does have some useful purpose to other kids though.