A few Wednesdays have passed between blog posts, but that is only because we are working hard to expand AVID's influence. Every AVID Sophomore and Junior took the PSAT at our school, which will open doors for colleges to send our students information pertaining to their abilities and interests! We are also gearing up for a Halloween Family Day, AVID day with the Charlotte Hornets in November, and the holiday season which will include a "More Love Letters Campaign," an AVID for Antlers Reindeer Run, as well as a bumper crop for a local food bank. Look for more information in email for AVID School-wide opportunities.
One question I am often asked is, "So why do 'all of this' for a group of students? Isn't it enough just to teach?" The answer is one word: potential. A common factor among all successful people in the world is having an adult who believed in their worth and potential for greatness. In addition to closing the achievement gap and college/career readiness for all, AVID's true mission in my mind is fostering greatness in all students, but especially harnessing this potential for the AVID cohort of students. Are they perfect? No. Were you perfect between the ages of ten and eighteen? No. However, we had at least one adult who cared for us at all times, and that, friends, makes all the difference.
I encourage everyone to read the blog post about an adult shadowing a student just for a day (click here to read), which Grant Wiggins posted on his blog (co-founder of Understanding by Design; his daughter was the adult who shadowed a student). Halloween is on a Friday this year, and I'd like to imagine for a moment: what if this Halloween was actually like the movie "Freaky Friday," and you had to trade places with one of the teens we teach. How would life be if you had to live it through a teen's perspective?
Please continue to be fair, be loyal, and make excellent decisions as you interact with the boisterous yet fragile kids we encounter every day in our classrooms, offices, and the hallways. They have incredible life stories and are overcoming more than we sometimes realize. Their potential is our bottom line. They are why we must not grow weary in well-doing and remain AVID even when things seem impossible.
I'll leave you with some quotes for the times sarcasm seems to overpower sensitivity:
"Perseverance is the hard work you do after you get tired of doing the hard work you've already done." - Newt Gingrich
"You can't lead the people if you don't love the people. You can't save the people if you don't serve the people." - Cornel West
“You take whatever works from wherever you can find it, and you keep moving toward the light.” -Elizabeth Gilbert
Also enjoy this video that encapsulates the crux of our "why:" children! Imagine how excited our teens must have been when they were in elementary school. In what ways are we still promoting "The Leader in Me" approach in the upper grades?
One question I am often asked is, "So why do 'all of this' for a group of students? Isn't it enough just to teach?" The answer is one word: potential. A common factor among all successful people in the world is having an adult who believed in their worth and potential for greatness. In addition to closing the achievement gap and college/career readiness for all, AVID's true mission in my mind is fostering greatness in all students, but especially harnessing this potential for the AVID cohort of students. Are they perfect? No. Were you perfect between the ages of ten and eighteen? No. However, we had at least one adult who cared for us at all times, and that, friends, makes all the difference.
I encourage everyone to read the blog post about an adult shadowing a student just for a day (click here to read), which Grant Wiggins posted on his blog (co-founder of Understanding by Design; his daughter was the adult who shadowed a student). Halloween is on a Friday this year, and I'd like to imagine for a moment: what if this Halloween was actually like the movie "Freaky Friday," and you had to trade places with one of the teens we teach. How would life be if you had to live it through a teen's perspective?
Please continue to be fair, be loyal, and make excellent decisions as you interact with the boisterous yet fragile kids we encounter every day in our classrooms, offices, and the hallways. They have incredible life stories and are overcoming more than we sometimes realize. Their potential is our bottom line. They are why we must not grow weary in well-doing and remain AVID even when things seem impossible.
I'll leave you with some quotes for the times sarcasm seems to overpower sensitivity:
"Perseverance is the hard work you do after you get tired of doing the hard work you've already done." - Newt Gingrich
"You can't lead the people if you don't love the people. You can't save the people if you don't serve the people." - Cornel West
“You take whatever works from wherever you can find it, and you keep moving toward the light.” -Elizabeth Gilbert
Also enjoy this video that encapsulates the crux of our "why:" children! Imagine how excited our teens must have been when they were in elementary school. In what ways are we still promoting "The Leader in Me" approach in the upper grades?