The prominent AVID logo is a reminder that the long standing program delivers on its promises. Photo courtesy of Johnston County Public Schools.

  It’s the time of year when students at San Luis Obispo High School are making their final college decisions, and many have been greatly helped by the school’s AVID program along the way. But what is AVID, and how is it helping SLOHS students get to college?

  AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) is a program that helps students prepare for academic success and college readiness, and accepts students from grades seven through twelve. According to the California Department of Education, the program is mainly designed for students of minority, rural, and low income backgrounds and aims to help first-generation college bound students get accepted into their dream schools.

  “I got into UC Santa Cruz, and something that was standing out about Santa Cruz was the environment. When I stepped onto the campus, it made me feel at home,” said senior Jazleen Rojas. “I don’t think I would’ve had that initial connection if it wasn’t for AVID.”

  Rojas, like many of her classmates in AVID, is a first generation college-bound student who benefitted from the many opportunities and resources AVID provides. Students are provided with tutors on Tuesdays and Thursdays from Cal Poly that help them with their academics. They’re also given many volunteer opportunities, such as childcare.

  “Me and my friends volunteer in the Elect meetings for childcare, so for those Spanish speaking families they would like Spanish speaking students around their kids and to communicate with to the parents with their Spanish speaking child,” said Rojas.

  For seniors and juniors, AVID goes on several field trips throughout the year to help students get an idea of what they might be looking for in their future college. 

  “We went to Santa Cruz twice, ” said senior Savannah Crocker. “We’ve been to Santa Barbara as well, and I’m pretty sure UCLA. These field trips really help us figure out where we want to go and like, have a firsthand perspective of what the student life looks like as well.” 

  AVID also builds a community of like-minded students that some have been a part of all throughout high school. Having a community like this helps students collaborate and develop ideas that prepare them for college.

  “With AVID, we’ve been a community and it’s been the same kids basically all four years,” said Crocker, who’s been a member of AVID since eighth grade. “We do tutorials in class where we get in groups and one of us presents a problem to the rest of the group, and then the group has to ask questions without directly telling us how to do it so that we can figure it out ourselves.”

  Thanks to AVID, SLOHS students have access to some great opportunities and a community that can help them all throughout high school on their way to college. AVID highlights the true purpose of high school, to collaborate with others to elevate each other to higher education.

So, how many students get into college after taking the AVID class?

“All of them. Historically, we have a hundred percent college acceptance rate with senior AVID,” said SLOHS AVID teacher Kyle Harmon.