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Moreno Valley High Scores Big
| Marvelous coiffed center jewess | 05/11/10 |
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Date: May 11th, 2010 3:38 PM Author: Marvelous coiffed center jewess Subject: From the Press-Enterprise - Riverside, California Moreno Valley High's AVID program scores big
10:00 PM PDT on Sunday, May 2, 2010
By LAURIE LUCAS The Press-Enterprise As a freshman at Moreno Valley High, David Shin wasn't sure college was right for him.
Now, a graduating senior with a 4.36 GPA, he's bound for Harvard to study biomedical engineering on a full scholarship.
What's more, it was a tough choosing among 13 acceptances, including Yale and UC Berkeley.
David Shin, right, works during a chemistry tutorial with students Jennifer Ramos, left, and Hong Nguyen, at Moreno Valley High School. Shin has been accepted into Harvard, Ramos will attend UCLA and Nguyen is headed to UC Berkeley. The difference in those three years was catching David in the school's safety net -- the AVID program -- for at-risk, low-income and average students. AVID, a rigorous tutoring and college preparation elective stands for Advancement Via Individual Determination and is offered in 4,800 schools worldwide.
"I would have been lost in the application process, said David, 18. "I'm not sure what life would have been like. AVID helped me organize better and prioritize my time."
He's not alone. So far, 57 of AVID's 66 seniors are bound for four-year colleges: UC Berkeley and UCLA have each accepted six students. Four students each won $20,000 scholarships and a laptop from Dell Inc.
That's pretty good out of 5,300 applicants and 300 winners nationwide, said Tommy Stokes, who coordinates Moreno Valley High's AVID caseload of 440 students. His school boasts 11 Dell scholarship recipients in the past five years.
He's also proud that Moreno Valley High received acclaim as a model program in November 2008 for turning out a high percentage of college-going kids.
Hong Nguyen, 18, will start UC Berkeley in the fall with plans to become a neurologist. She credits the program for helping her maintain a 4.32 GPA and attaining a 1,590 SAT score.
Christian Nunez, 18, said if not for AVID he wouldn't be going to college. He'll start at UC Riverside in September, majoring in psychology and will live at home.
Mercedes Gonzalez, 17, will start Cal State San Bernardino and study forensics.
Darrell Frye, 18, plans to attend Morehouse College, an all-male black school in Atlanta.
The district funds Moreno Valley High's program with $20,000 to pay for tutors and two bused field trips to visit local and Northern California universities. "AVID is all about college," Stokes said.
Although aware of the budget crunch, Stokes, 37, said he'll ask the school board for additional money to expand the program when the economy turns around.
Principal Maribel Mattox said AVID immerses kids in the college-going culture, encourages the school to offer more honors and Advanced Placement courses, reduces disruptions and truancy and increases student and staff expectations of achievement.
"Tommy is passionate in his belief that the students can make it," she said. |