AVID Conference

AVID, the class that aims to get students ready for college, has been one of Century’s most successful programs. After one hundred percent of AVID seniors from the Class of 2015 went on to college, and the expectations are nothing less for the Class of 2016, Century’s AVID program is taking another step forward by hosting a district-wide AVID conference on June 4th.

Seniors Martina John, Molly Brown, and Angel Salazar are planning to welcome 400 AVID students from Liberty, Hilhi, Glencoe, and Century to their conference, which will be held on campus. The conference will involve icebreakers, workshops, and collaborative sessions where students can learn from each other and the AVID programs can share ideas.

“This conference is the first of its kind,” said John, “and our goal is to connect all AVID high school students in one place.”

The conference started out as a hopeful idea for John, Brown, and Salazar, but it has grown into much more since they started planning. Anthony Harrington, a representative of the Nike School Innovation Fund, took a special interest in the conference after he was approached by John, and after learning more, Harrington was able to secure funding for the four hundred conference t-shirts.

After getting Nike on board, Brown and John went to Superintendent Mike Scott, who offered to pay for the food and transportation at the conference.

And it’s no surprise that people have been excited to support this project. AVID is a college preparatory program, so much of the conference will be learning about resume-building, succeeding in high school, and the pathway to college, which are valuable skills all students should be exposed to.

John, Brown, and Salazar are all part of AVID’s Class of 2016, so this conference is an extension of the program that all three value very highly. “AVID teaches you a lot about the value of higher education,” said John, “which is so important when you’re the first in your family to go to college, like I am.”

“I’ve gained so many organizational skills from AVID, and AVID has really helped me stay determined and organized through high school,” Brown explained. Now that Brown, John, and Salazar are heading off to college in the fall, Brown to Central Oregon Community College, John to Pacific University, and Salazar to Grand Canyon University, they have the experience and perspective to look back on the benefits AVID has provided them.

AVID student Alex Maldonado prepares for class using the notebook AVID helped him organize.

Photo Credit: Marissa Godwin