Program Overview

​The AVID program has different focuses each year.

AVID 1– Setting a solid foundation for high school (establishes routines, grade checks, organization, time  management)

AVID 2– Career Exploration (completing interest inventories, researching careers and career clusters)

AVID 3–  SAT emphasis (SAT test-taking strategies, mandatory SAT practice)

AVID 4–  College and career planning (FAFSA completion, college applications, researching majors and career options, transitioning to college)

AVID Tutorial Session

Day to Day

The weeks in AVID are very structured.  Every Tuesday and Thursday students run student-led tutorials(or collaborative study groups).   The other days of the week students are taught a curriculum that focuses on WICOR (writing, inquiry, collaboration, organization, and reading) strategies.  These strategies should support student learning in core classes.   

Field Trips

Each semester of AVID our students go on at least one field trip to a college campus. By exposing students to authentic college experiences our hope is that students will be motivated and more confident about ending up on a college campus.  Our four-year college visit circuit is:

AVID 1:  Northern Illinois University & Benedictine Univerisity

​AVID 2:  Northwestern University & University of Illinois at Chicago

​AVID 3:  DePaul University & our annual OVERNIGHT field trip:  Eastern Illinois University, the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana, Illinois State University, and Illinois Wesleyan

AVID 4:  Lake Forest College & Northeastern Illinois University/Career Trek at Coyote Logistics

AVID Speakers

AVID invites two speakers per month to come and talk to students about their careers, and the experiences that lead them to their career path.  Each grade level invites different speakers.  The graphic on the left shows some examples of whom we have had come in as a speaker.  If you are interested in sharing your story with an AVID class, please reach out to:   [email protected] 

Tutorials

On Tuesdays and Thursdays each week, students are responsible for bringing a completed a Tutorial Request Form (TRF) to class.  A TRF is a sheet where students write down a question they have from a different class they are taking.  They can use homework problems, quizzes, test questions, or something they just want more clarification on.  Once they bring that to class, they present their questions to a study group of 5-7 students and a tutor.  The group then discusses the question hoping to lead the student to develop the right answer to his/her question.  Students are responsible for bringing these to class twice a week.  By participating in these study groups, our students develop critical thinking skills, learn to collaborate, and develop resilience to work through tough problems and find answers to the questions they seek.