Friday, AVID’s visitation team announced that Foothill will join the ranks of the country’s top schools by becoming a National AVID Demonstration School.
Currently there are over 4000 AVID schools across the nation. These schools have certified AVID programs that meet the basic essential requirements.
However, Foothill has become a National AVID Demonstration School. There are only 121 international schools with this honor, although few lie outside of the United States. Foothill will receive national recognition, and extra funding to help keep it’s AVID programs strong.
“Our ultimate goal for students is (to go to) a four-year college” said AVID member Phill Britton.
AVID stands for Advancement Via Individual Determination and it’s programs can be found supporting almost any Foothill classroom. Socratic Seminars, Cornell Notes and the different ‘Levels of Questioning’ are all AVID strategies that Foothill uses.
Robin Kisinger, a fulltime AVID employee, stated that being a Demonstration School also means that, “The school is willing to take on the responsibility of other schools visiting, (as well as) administrators or teachers that want to see what an AVID program looks like.” These schools, like Foothill, integrate AVID strategies into their classes outside of the AVID program.
Later, at the announcement ceremony the visiting AVID team praised Foothill for its FIRE program, along with three recommendations for improvement.
Britton read them aloud, “Number one: focus professional development on deepening student inquiry in the AVID elective and across curriculum, number two: continue to look at increasing access to honors and AP courses for a wider range of academic profiles, and number three: expansion of the district liaison role in Ventura Unified.”
The final findings of the group were read by Kisinger, “Foothill Technology High School is an excellent school with a strong school-wide AVID program. Based on today’s visit and certifications document, we are pleased to welcome Foothill Tech High School as an AVID Nation Demonstration School.”
The crowd of teachers, staff, and AVID students jumped up and applauded at the news.
Senior Marciana Reyes, Vice-President of the AVID program at Foothill, commented “I feel very honored and proud to witness this event.” Foothill’s AVID classes have been hard at work preparing for today’s visit since the beginning of the school year.
Dr. Trudy Ariaga, Superintendent of Ventura Unified School District, wished to congratulate the staff and students of Foothill and stated that this “is a source of pride for the entire school district.”
The next AVID visit to review if Foothill is to remain an AVID Demonstration School will take place in one or two years, according to Kisinger. The AVID program will be 30 years old in 2010.
Photo: Mr. Villa celebrates the news with AVID students. Photo by Maya Morales, The Foothill Dragon Press.
