Getting to Know What AVID 9 is All About

AVID (Advanced Via Individual Determination) is one of the many electives offered at our school. It’s a program to help students learn about college and get into college. We have a few people the new AVID 9 class should get to know.

 One of our new AVID teachers is Ms. Cloutier. This is her first year teaching AVID. She is one of our AVID 9 teachers alongside Ms. Ambat. When asked why Mrs. Cloutier chose to teach AVID, she shared her history with being a special education teacher, “When you’re a special ed teacher, a lot of what you do is case management and helping students plan their lives. After high school, we do something called a transition plan for every student in high school, and we actually have to plan what they’ll do there when they graduate. I feel very strongly about empowering students to work towards their future.” AVID is a program that is dedicated to making students prepared for college and their respective futures. Previously, Cloutier was aware of what the program was and really loved it. She remarked how she “strongly believes in the program.”

AVID offers numerous ‘enrichment focused’ field trips and activities for its students. Mrs. Cloutier spoke about looking forward to the upcoming AVID dodgeball tournament and numerous college visits. “Typically, we go to UCSB, Cal State Channel Islands, and Westmont.” Cloutier also hopes to get to know her new students better, finding enjoyment in learning about them and seeing how they interact with one another. She hopes to guide them through 9th grade and get them prepared for high school later on.

When asked if she had any advice for the new freshmen, Cloutier responded by saying, “I guess the key would really be staying on top of your classes. The message I hear from a lot of students is that their goal is to really have better time management.” She recommends that students use what they have learned from their AVID SMART goals and attend tutoring, as well as talk with their teachers, to maintain the best grades possible. She highly encourages asking for support when needed. 

Cloutier explained how she hopes to help her students develop more skills, whether that’s time management or study skills, by the end of the year. “A lot of it’s preparation, but also kind of honing skills students have and then teaching them new skills to make them successful in high school.” Mrs. Cloutier said.

Mr. Velasco, the AVID coordinator and an AVID 10 teacher. AVID coordinator means he keeps all of the AVID classes organized, as well as aids in fundraising for field trips. Mr. Velasco was actually a part of the reason why we have AVID at our school now. He was originally a part of a program called REACH which was here before AVID. He said,“REACH wasn’t really working because there was no set curriculum and teachers were kind of doing whatever they could do, I was getting really frustrated.”  The principal at the time, Dr. Cynthia White, invited Velasco to an AVID conference room in San Diego. He heard student speakers who were in college talk about how AVID had helped in their lives. He and the assistant principal wrote a proposal to the Santa Barbara Unified School District to bring the AVID program to SBHS. Consequently, the AVID program started here in 2008.

Mr. Velasco explained why he decided to teach AVID, saying,“ No one ever talked to me about college.” Back in high school, he was enrolled in honors and AP classes and had a 3.5 GPA, but no one had ever spoken to him about SATs or college in general. His counselor even suggested that he join the military despite his grades. “I began to realize: If you don’t have someone in your family who went to a four-year university, when do you have those conversations? How do you navigate a really complicated world in order to get to a four-year school?” College for him, “opened doors that he couldn’t even imagine.”

The thing Velasco looks forward to the most is hearing seniors tell him the schools they plan to attend. “It’s exciting, I think when students are freshman or sophomores it still feels far away. It feels like a dream, and then to see their hard work pay off.” He also looks forward to students later on reaching out to him. He enjoys getting messages from old students thanking him for pushing them, or just life updates. 

Velasco’s new advice for freshmen is, “The three H’s. The first H is doubling down on hard work. Just work hard, no matter what you’re doing. Class, your dance practice, your sports practice, band, it doesn’t matter; give it a hundred percent. Don’t shrink it, you’re gonna regret it if you don’t try your best. The second is to be honest. If you make a mistake, own it. The third is to be humble. Just be humble about your accomplishments. That doesn’t mean you can’t share your accomplishments with other people, but there’s a difference between doing it respectfully and showing off.”

By the end of the year, he hopes to see his students go off to college or attend SBCC with the intention of transferring. “I think the goal for our students is to understand that being in AVID isn’t a guarantee, but it’s an opportunity. And if you see it as an opportunity and you’re willing to do those three H’s, good things will happen. There are some students who really struggle. They act as if they just show up and are there, that’s gonna be enough. Showing up is the first step, but then you have to do all the other steps.” 

Both AVID 9 classes recently held an election for each of the class club presidents. Amrie Reveles and Alan Mendoza were voted in for Mrs. Cloutier’s class. Reveles said, “I feel honored and hope to speak more about AVID in the future.” In Ms. Ambat’s class, Amelia Lopez and Monse Lopez were voted for AVID Club President. Upcoming AVID events include a dodgeball tournament  for all AVID classes through period one on Oct. 29. Currently, a trip to NorCal is planned for AVID seniors,  and a possible trip to Six Flags, depending on funding. AVID plans to raise more money through swap meets, movie nights, restaurant sponsorships, and collecting pictures for Día de Los Muertos.

Kareem Battle, a Santa Barbara Junior High teacher, also teaches AVID and said,

“I love all my AVID kids and miss you all very much.  I am always here for you (and yes, I am still as handsome as when you last saw me, maybe even a little more so.) Good luck this year. Come back and visit.”