Brownwood High School students involved in the AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) program gathered for a trip to visit the Abilene Christian University campus Tuesday, April 19th.  “The AVID students have the opportunity to take a college field trip each semester,” explained AVID Site Coordinator and teacher, Joey Wilbourn, noting that in the Fall students toured Howard Payne University. “We plan to visit a different college each semester to expose our students to the different types of colleges in our region.”

AVID is a nation-wide “college readiness” program that challenges students to be their best in the classroom. Students follow the AVID curriculum which is described on the AVID website (avid.org) as a curriculum that is, “based on rigorous standards, [and] was developed by middle and high school teachers in collaboration with college professors. It is based on best teaching practices in writing, inquiry, collaboration, organization, and reading, and it is supported by state and national content standards.”

AVID students at BHS are required to take at least one “rigorous” course.  “These are courses like Pre-AP, AP, and Dual Credit,” explained Wilbourn. “We focus on students who are in the academic middle and provide extra social and academic support to close gaps so they are able to be successful at the college level.”

This is the first year for the AVID program at BHS and there are currently 5 elective classes. Staff that work on AVID also include, BHS Assistant Principal, Lindsay Smith, serving as the AVID District Director, Coach Shay Easterwood, AVID Elective teacher, and several BHS core-content teachers that work as AVID tutors.

The program has had a successful first year and Wilbourn noted encouraging numbers going into next year stating, “We have about 70 eighth-graders who have signed up and will be in Freshman AVID classes next year.”