AVID is an academic “in-school” support system that prepares kids for college eligibility and success. McNeil has offered this program for the past 11 years. The AVID program was introduced in 2013 since then students have been offered structure for how to study and collaborate through this program.
“AVID specifically teaches students exactly how to interact with their notes for optimal learning and work through points of confusion with peers,” AVID District Director Michelle Moak said. “These are all skills students must have in college no matter if they are on-level or TAG students. Advanced learners tend to struggle when they get to college due to the fact that they don’t know how to productively study because they easily progress through the early years of education.”
Students simply apply these skills to their everyday lives inside the classroom.
“I’ve been in AVID for one year,” sophomore Alexis Fleenor said. “AVID helps me study for big tests and keep my grades in check. It’s also allowed me to help other students in other classes since I know test-taking strategies and I can help others apply that to themselves.”
This program has shown kids how to apply the skills they learn in their everyday academic routines but also apply these skills to their outside lives as well.
“I’ve been in AVID for two years,” sophomore Riley Dishman said. “AVID has helped me outside of the classroom just as much as inside, such as applying for jobs, it helped me organize my resumes and fill them out.”
AVID has shown that students persevere inside and outside of the classroom and students are often recognized for these skills learned through the class. Teachers on our campus know AVID students due to their performance in their classes compared to their peers.
“A lot of my freshman and sophomore students say that their teachers know that they’re AVID students because of their binder and note skills,” McNeil AVID site coordinator Laura Sullivan said. “It’s also evident in my classroom because students have found a lot of other kids who are similarly academically focused and that has helped them academically progress.”
AVID students don’t realize how beneficial it is to know that they can apply these crucial learning skills to their learning. Most adults and teachers on campus don’t know these skills or have never been taught.
“The majority of teachers I know who have been asked if they have ever been taught study skills would say no and we all have a college degree,” Sullivan said.
Advanced learners who don’t have the skills, tend to fall back in college and end up struggling because they have no sense of time management or organization, since they didn’t need it before.
“Without a doubt, I needed a structure like AVID…and I was an “advanced” learner,” Moak said. “I would have had a better grasp on time management, organization, and how to formulate my notes and points of confusion.”
College preparation and viewing College campuses is a big part of AVID.
“I didn’t realize the impact for students to go on college trips,” Sullivan said. “A lot of my AVID kids had never been or even thought about it until our first AVID field trip.”
Beyond going on to get a college degree, some students choose other paths after their senior year, but AVID has prepared them either way.
“I also have kids who are not going on to get advanced degrees, they are going onto trade school or the military,” Sullivan said. “But due to AVID, they will be the best at whatever they’re going into.”
AVID is very beneficial overall, the program as a whole is just overlooked, even though it has a big impact in RRISDand McNeil culture.
“A lot of people and parents overlook the AVID program because they back their kids into thinking that they’re going to be fine,” Sullivan said. “But AVID is beneficial to everyone.”
AVID is actively trying to make a change in our student population from when kids are the age of six years old, in kindergarten to 14 in eighth grade. They teach and help young kids with simple fundamental skills like logging into a computer and showing leadership.
“McNeil’s AVID program also goes to Jollyville Elementary, Live Oak Elementary, Deerpark Middle, Joe Lee Johnson Elementary and other neighboring schools to show that McNeil is building a culture among vertical teams at other schools,” Sullivan said. “This is to show that when young kids see AVID they know it’s a big deal and a welcoming program that can help them on our campus.”
Students feel prepared to be a helping hand, talk and actively be a part of programs on campus because of AVID
McNeil goes on more college trips than any other school in that district. When other kids hear about other kids going on these field trips they ask why and they end up learning more about our program. Kids figure out what they want and don’t want for the future college campuses by going on these trips and they continue to share it with their peers on campus.
“AVID has provided me with overall preparation skills,” senior Dae’Ron Calhoun said. “Things that I learned in the AVID program also helped me with my college essays and Junior SAT, this class hasn’t only prepared me for school materials but also for life, and I’m glad that I took it.”
AVID has produced student leaders at schools that spread college culture by spreading that to peers.
“We have kids in so many programs that are also a part of AVID. They are actively changing McNeil culture by leading others,” Sullivan said. “We have student trainers, kids in orchestra athletes, and band kids, if not all most are going to college to go on and get a college degree because AVID has prepared them for this next step in life.”
Students are going on to show their leadership role and actively progressing on and off campus. We see the importance of this program when there is growth in numbers every year at our school and evident productivity in the AVID classrooms.
“These kids are awesome and are going to be great,” Sullivan said. “I have more doctors, lawyers and engineers than I ever thought I would, They’re going to be great.”
