The Echo

From the CSD website, posted in August 2005:


Christiana High to be 1st high school in Christina District to implement AVID

While students take to the roads this summer for vacation, Christiana High staffers have been paving new roads to ensure all students will have academic success when the new school year opens.

CHS staff recently traveled to the AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) Institute in Austin, Texas to lead CHS in its efforts to become the first high school in the Christina District to implement the program.

During her keynote speech celebrating the 25th anniversary of AVID, founder Mary Catherine Swanson urged educators to make a difference with AVID.

"AVID is about self-discovery. It is when we move from quiet acceptance to active participation. Only one in seventeen of the poorest families will earn a Bachelor's Degree. If we aren't vigil or allow petty obstacles to overcome us, we will slam doors on our students. You have the chance to change history. Through AVID, students are not bound to their backgrounds. All students regardless of their backgrounds can succeed. Nothing can hold us back or our students," Swanson said.

CHS will utilize AVID to try to reach its "least served" students who are in the middle and often overlooked. The main goal of the AVID program is to help those students eventually succeed in college for at least four years. AVID is designed to help students prepare for more rigorous studies and eventually AP courses. Students become more empowered via the WIC-R (Writing, Inquiry, Collaboration, Reading) strategies presented in the program.

Another component of the AVID program is support. Students are given support in all of their courses via the caring AVID elective teacher who helps students with organization and tutorials.

Currently, CHS has enrolled approximately 20 freshmen in their AVID program, and their goal is to work with those students until graduation. Students will have AVID during the regular school day, and CHS will utilize tutors from the universities and community to meet the needs of students during those tutorials.