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AVID at Shuksan

What is AVID?
See national AVID website and see BPS AVID webpage

AVID stands for Advancement Via Individual Determination and is a program designed to help students develop the skills needed for success in college.

The mission statement of AVID is to, “Close the achievement gap by preparing all students for college readiness and success in a global society”. At Shuksan, we offer AVID as an elective class that meets during the school day.

What do students do in AVID?  Shuksan’s motto for AVID is “Work hard, Play hard”. We teach the AVID class in a family-style format, where we develop and strengthen student’s writing, inquiry, collaboration, organization and reading. This means we push students think critically about what they are learning in their other classes, give them organizational strategies to manage 7 classes, develop their leadership qualities, and teach note taking skills to help them study for tests. Fun is integrated throughout this family-style class, with field trips to colleges, Friday Fun Days, and other team building games that bring us together as an AVID family.

Thinking about joining AVID? Students apply to AVID during the first month of 6th grade. We review their applications and select our AVID classes from there. Factors we look at in applicants include:

  • Application submitted
  • Teacher recommendation
  • Student exhibits a determination to succeed and possesses college potential with the support of the AVID elective.
  • First generation college student. This is not a requirement but is one factor we consider.

If you think your student would be interested in applying to AVID, encourage them to complete an application during their first month at Shuksan. Questions? Feel free to reach out to the AVID Site Coordinator at Shuksan at Elizabeth.Insera@bellinghamschools.org

Here are more links our AVID teachers suggest: