Dr. Carreon Academy

When we think about avid many times our first thought is secondary and the elective, but there's a whole world of avid elementary out there creating great systems and changing the lives of the littlest avid babies. One of those schools is Dr. Carreon Academy in Indio and part of desert sands Unified School District, we have the opportunity to speak with a group of their avid elementary students ranging from second to fifth grade. And we are not exaggerating when we tell you aren't going to want to miss this episode.

Tweet us @rimsavid
Just for our high school students @rims_avid
Email: rimsavid@sbcss.net
Check out our website rimsavid.org
 
Music by ItsWatR from Pixabay - Cali

Transcript

Copy

 AVID Dr. Carreon Academy_mixdown

00:00

Well, I, I would say that you could tell your students to go home if they want to have a strong voice. You can tell them to go home and practice with their family and their friends and eventually make it to the, you know, speaking in front of the class. And most schools all schools should be a safe learning environment where you can talk to anybody and tell anybody anything.

Stephanie  00:31

Hello AVID Family this is Stephanie Downey 

Kelli  00:33

And I'm Kelly Hogan flowers

Stephanie  00:36

You're listening to the rims, AVID Roundtable, the podcast where we discuss all things AVID. Twice each month on this podcast, we get together with a special guests to talk about their AVID journey. It will tell their story and explain what makes them an AVID Rockstar. They will share their ideas, best practices and strategies that they've learned along the way. Today, we have an extra special episode for you. When we think about AVID many times our first thought is secondary and the elective, but there's a whole world of AVID elementary out there creating great systems and changing the lives of the littlest AVID babies. One of those schools is Dr. Carreon Academy in Indio and part of Desert Sands Unified School District, we have the opportunity to speak with a group of their AVID elementary students ranging from second to fifth grade. And we are not exaggerating when we tell you aren't going to want to miss this episode. A little background on Dr. Carreon Academy, the elementary school started as a Medical Magnet School and launched AVID in 2018. The staff embraced AVID right away and by the end of the first year, the entire staff was AVID trained, and diving right into creating AVID systems at their site. Their site became an AVID showcase school and this is where I first got to meet these amazing kids. It was easy to see the kids understood the systems and the why behind them. And it's not that the kids have been trained to say these things but that they are living in these systems every day and see the benefits of teachers, staff and students embracing what it means to be an AVID school and an AVID family listening to the talk as they lead us through classrooms. Then hearing them speak on a panel with such poise and articulation was a sight to behold. I immediately reached out to Kelly and said we need to have them on our show. Kelly, producer Dave and I had the wonderful opportunity to visit the campus and talk to the kids about AVID and there were times when we were left speechless listening to them. There was laughter there were tears and there was definitely join here and each one of these amazing kids speak about what AVID means to them. We hope you enjoy this as much as we did the future of AVID is in great hands.

Kelli  02:29

Our day started off with a conversation with principal Dr. Lisa McCall, who shared with us what's involved in truly taking AVID school wide. Then, Veronica Mesquita joined us with her expertise as an instructional coach, and coordinator of all things AVID. Then finally we talk to the stars of the day, a group of spectacular scholars who filled our hearts with such pride and happiness, that some of my happy overflowed and came out of my eyes and ran down my cheeks. So without further ado, let's hear from Dr. Carreon Academy. I am Dr. Lisa McCall, the principal here at Dr. Carreon Academy. And I am so excited that AVID is such a part of our culture. When I came to the campus last year, AVID was already in place and there were strong systems in place. And so it really aligns with my leadership philosophy about what's best for kids. And as I've been able to work with the staff and with our students are just able to continue the amazing things that were in place already. And then extend those strategies and extend the importance of really being an AVID school. We say all of the time, AVID is not what we do, it's who we are. And it truly is reflected as we walk through classrooms every single day, our kids are able to speak about AVID about why it's important. You know, in everything that I think about when I'm planning my professional development experiences, as I'm doing my walkthroughs in my classrooms is really tied under that AVID umbrella, and really being able to remind everyone, it's not one more thing, it's the thing. You know, we we use those AVID strategies in our professional development sessions with the teachers. My instructional coach Veronica and I really work to model the strategies with the adults. We have our teachers bring their own agendas, each time we meet. The staff all has their own WICOR partners, so that we really are showing how those AVID strategies are embedded in everything we do. It's just what good learning and teaching looks like. My name is Veronica Amezcua. I'm the instructional coach and AVID site coordinator for our school Dr. Carreon Academy. This is my sixth year here at the school as an instructional coach and our fifth year implementing AVID we started in 2018. So when we started back In 2000, actually, we were introduced to AVID through our District Director, Carrie Penny, Dr. Carrie Penny. And she took us to the national conference to introduce us to what AVID was and what we could do in elementary school. And this was with my former principal, um, Tiffany Norton, who is now at the district office. And so when we went, I mean, it was just amazing. Like everything, just it was all the best practices that we've always done as teachers. And WICOR, like I hadn't heard of WICOR before. And I left thinking, we did a WICOR all the time. So we came back with a plan, like, yes, we're going to do this. But you know, whenever you're interested in being new to a staff, you want to make sure you don't overwhelm everybody. So So we started with, oh, you said, Okay, we'll do fourth or fifth grade, they're the oldest and they can handle the organization binders and those kinds of things. And so we started, we went to summer institute that 2018, and we took, fourth and fifth grade. And then typically that well, there's also going to lower grade in there, so they understand what AVID is. So we took a first grade class group. Well, once we got back word spread, when are we going to get trained? When are we going to get trained. So we ended up sending our second and third grade staff to pathway AVID path in November that year. And then in January, we finish the rest of our staff with kindergarten, and our specials and our special ed. So everyone got trained that first year.  So you guys really hit the ground running.

Veronica  06:33

We did, just because we saw that in the world, first of all the philosophy, opportunity for every student and to have them share that voice and to create a climate where there was a common language from TK through fifth grade. The common language became organization at first, you know, everyone had their folders or binders or agenda. And then then it became that whole college going culture. And teachers started making their college corners. And little by little, we started hearing kids talk about what college they want to go to, or what they want to be when they grow up. But it wasn't just the same policeman, fireman, Doctor, I was hearing things like, I want to be an engineer, I want to be a botanist or a marine biologist. And we hear that a lot. So it was really exciting. And but you know, as everything happens, it's it was a slow roll. And not everyone was like, Okay, well, I guess I'm checking this AVID box, right? I'm doing the agendas, I'm have binders. I don't know why but I do. Well, we start working really closely with our AVID district site team, and you'll meet Dr. Carrie Penny, some point. But she really brought us together as site coordinators, and really trying to make our implementation meaningful and purposeful for teachers. So it wasn't just a bucks or checking or something to do. But we wanted to make it so that it means something to our teachers and to our students. And so we started using these customized agendas, where we are able to put our branding on there. And you know, we added things like birthdays and, and special events. And you know, our cheers like, you know, our celebrations are in there. And then slowly but surely teachers started adding, asking, Can we add this because I can really use this during instruction? And can you add, you know, steps to, you know, strategies for multiplication in there. So slowly became a resource, not just calendaring things or making goals, but it became a useful resource for students and teachers. So since then it just kind of taken off here.

Kelli  08:44

I mean, that's it. That's a great system. You know, I love that teachers were allowed to have input, because that's so important. Because then it's not, you're being told what to do. It's, hey, let's do this. And what are your ideas, right, which leads to the buy in,

Veronica  09:00

and at the end of the year, then each year actually, what we do is we kind of lay out our, will at least for our organization, our binders and our and our agendas out TK through fifth grade. And we do like kind of a gallery walk and walk around like, what did we use? What did we what did we want to add? What do we want to change so that they still have that voice and those who are not 100% in are saying to themselves, Oh, I need to implement that next year. Or I need to do this or I want to add what that grade levels doing because it'll benefit my grade level. So having those end of the year, vertical articulation walks galleries I take the notes we did on chart paper, but then I take the notes and then I revisit it. We come back in the fall. So remember, this is what we talked about at the end of the year. This is what the changes I've made for you. And so this is how you know what are your commitments for the year and it's worked great.

Kelli  09:57

So I love that at the end of the year meeting you're using In AVID strategies,

Veronica  10:03

all the time, any opportunity we get, we embed them, while they're, you know, if I have to do a PD for our staff or our, you know, our professional development time, a staff meeting, any opportunity to get we throw in a strategy in there, and then you know, they get to take that and use it in a classroom as well. 

Stephanie  10:21

Well, I think it's so important to show how strong AVID is that you and we talked about this with other people, too, is that it's not just for the kids, it's for the teachers, it's for the other educators. And like, when we do it as a whole, I think that's how it's why it's so strong here is that it's so embedded in what you're all doing, not just what the kids are doing, right? You know, and they see the benefit of that. 

Veronica  10:40

And people ask us a lot of time, you know, even parents, like we had a parent night. And they asked that question like, okay, so what is this oven, and I said, the first thing I say is it's not a program. It's not a program, it's, it's what we do here, it's our it's our way of doing things. And it just kind of keeps us accountable for those high instructional practices. It keeps everyone connected. It gives us a culture that we can have opportunities to go on, beyond, you know, high school, we can go off to college, we can go off to a trade school, we can go off to the military, we have options that we want to make sure that our students at Dr. Carrier Academy know what those options are.

Stephanie  11:20

And that was when we were here to let you guys have this mural outside of the students. And then there's their their different occupations. Yeah, the shadow when and when they were introducing us and they came through the kids were like a knee, this is what we can be when we grow up. And like it was just that they naturally are thinking about like, this is my future, like I could be any one of these things. And that was like my first introduction to the kids on this campus. And so I was just like, oh my gosh, like, they know, like, there's all this, the whole world is open up to them, and they just need to work hard for it. And that was just, it was just amazing thing to learn about them instantly. When I was on campus,

Veronica  11:55

and they they gravitate to that conversation. I mean, they just they love that conversation. And the thing is our teachers, you know, they've become they've done more they do a morning meeting. And that introduced like a college of the of the day, a career of the day. And then they do like SEL video, like, you know, you know, taking control of our emotions, or how to be a better friend or just you know, everyday there's a little something it's a 15 minute morning meeting, it's a quick and then we kind of run through like what are the characteristics of a carreon comment scholar, and so that we have some descriptors and adjectives that describe what we should be on all throughout the day. And just that constant language that they hear. You can't the teachers cannot help themselves, but share that because it's good for kids and what teacher doesn't want what's good for kids. Exactly. So that's why this is a perfect fit for us.

Stephanie  12:48

And you guys, you have like us are a medical academy.

Veronica  12:54

Right. So when this school first started, it had the Medical Magnet, um, funds. And so that was way before my time. And I guess it happened for a couple of years. And then the funding stopped, right. And so whenever that happens, and that kind of things kind of fall by the wayside. So when I came in, I didn't really see the medical side, like it wasn't happening. But when we brought in AVID, and I said, Well, you know, we are going to focus on college and careers. We have a hospital, right across the street, we were a Medical Magnet school that we have a lot of resources that have the medical field, you know, tools and things. So like we can incorporate that what used to be a Medical Magnet School, to what we're doing in AVID with our college and career going culture. So we're bringing that back at least that language of the possibility. So in the agenda, when you're at the bottom of every weekly page, I had a different occupation in the medical field and a description of what it was so that the kids can see that there's more than just doctors and nurses, you had all of that, you know, even the techs and assistance and all the different, you know, and not just medical, but the optometrist and dental and all everything that had to do with a human body.

Stephanie  14:12

I think that's great, because I think as secondary teachers and our students are talking about, we're the ones who want to be in the medical field, it was always nurse and doctor and those are great things, but they didn't know really anything beyond. And there's so much more and some of them are better suited for different types of medicine or radiology or something else and for them to know this young that it's not just this or that.

Veronica  14:31

Yeah, I had one student tell me like I think I want to be a neurological tech. Oh my gosh. And I'm like, what does that do? Like? Well, they're not the doctor but they're the ones who have to put up all the, oh I forgat all of what he said, he knew the terminology like the things that go the stickers that go on the head to like, take a picture of the brain is dead like he could tell me how. So I thought that was really cool.

Stephanie  14:51

That is awesome.

Kelli  14:54

All right. So we are so excited to hear from the kids and you You're gonna love them. It's obvious your excitement and passion for AVID is I mean, it just it radiates. You know, and we're listening to you it's definitely are both sitting here just beaming. Because it's just,

Veronica  15:15

yeah, don't get me start talking about AVID I place you don't have enough time on your show for all the things I could talk about. I just really do love it and I support everything about it. And my favorite thing to do every summer is going to Summer Institute and actually this year I get to I'm gonna be a staff developer. Yeah, I'm gonna go to the training in May in Colorado.

Kelli  15:40

We'll see you there. See you. That's exciting. Yeah, so yeah, well, welcome aboard. Yeah.

Veronica  15:47

Okay, well, I'll bring our kiddos over. All right. Thank you.

Kelli  15:49

Thanks, Veronica. All right. So, Sophia, welcome to the RIMS AVID round table, we would love for you to introduce yourself, tell us your name, what grade you're in, what college you think you might attend? And what career do you have in mind?

Sophia  16:07

My name is Sophia. I'm in fifth grade. And I like I'm in between right now UC Berkeley or Harvard. And I would like to become a psychologist.

Stephanie  16:18

I love it. Excellent. It is very exciting. And what do you love about AVID?

16:24

I love AVID because it helps a lot of kids with organization and different strategies with different learning skills with those who need a little bit more help.

Kelli  16:34

Okay, so when you talk about things that help so which WICOR strategy do you think helps you the most in the classroom?

16:40

I think collaboration because it helps kids engage and tell each other their answers and what they got. And they helps them like, decide which answer is correct or which one's wrong and how to learn from their mistakes.

Stephanie  16:56

And then what does it mean to you to be an AVID scholar?

16:59

For me an AVID scholar, it's, they have to be organized, they always have to be listening. They always have to be aware. And they have to make sure that like when they have an answer to go back and check their answers to make sure that they're correct.

Kelli  17:18

So Sophia, I have a question going back to your your college choices. So how did you decide on Berkeley and Harvard?

17:26

Well, I heard a lot of good things about Harvard. And I think it's really nice and beautiful there. And UC Berkeley. My aunt went there. Okay. And she got her bachelor's degree, I think, I'm not sure. I think it's something like that.

Stephanie  17:41

Awesome. 

Kelli  17:42

Well, it's great that you're already already thinking about that fifth grade. That's pretty awesome. So Sophia, we have a lot of teachers who listen to the podcast. So as a an exemplary AVID scholar, what advice would you give to teachers? What would you what do you think teachers need to do or know,

18:03

I think a good advice for teachers is like if a student needs a little bit help make sure they get that help. If not, they might struggle with their grade.

Kelli  18:13

That's great. It was a Words To Live By. Yes. All right. Sophia  do you have anything else you want to tell us because I want it. I don't want to cut you off.

18:20

Um,

18:21

I've been here since kindergarten. And I think that the AVID has really improved the students learning.

Kelli  18:28

Awesome. Sophia. That's super impressive. Thank you. Alright, so Sophia, we can't let you go without asking about something pretty exciting just happened with you didn't it?

18:41

Yes, I got reclassified from ELD.

Kelli  18:44

Nice, very exciting. And so did did AVID strategies help you with that? You think?

18:49

Yes. A lot. It helped me because when there was a question, I would look back to the passage to see the answers and know that and I would take notes on a piece of paper.

Kelli  19:01

Love it. Awesome. So you've got you've had a chance since you've been here since kindergarten to really see AVID grow at this school. Yeah. Well, we're so glad and I know that they are very, very proud of you and all of your efforts. So thank you, Sophia. Thank you. You're welcome.

Colby  19:18

My name is Colby and I'm in fifth grade. I'm wanting to attend UC San Diego. And I'm thinking about becoming a teacher. 

Kelli  19:29

So how'd you pick UC San Diego.

Colby  19:31

I chose UC San Diego because I like reading and I'm probably going to do math or reading teacher. Nice. In they have a big library.

Stephanie  19:43

They do have a big library up there.

Kelli  19:46

Libraries are everything. So Colby, tell us what do you love the most about AVID?

Colby  19:53

The thing I love most about AVID is organization. I love that they are amazed that you should not just in school, but at home too. It helps me keep my things organized. Nice.

Stephanie  20:07

So in your AVID class, do you feel like there's through collaboration and through organization that there's a type of like AVID family that's happening in there?

Colby  20:16

Yes. I think it's happening by, um, not just students, but also teachers.

Stephanie  20:25

Awesome. So you're seeing that even with the teachers on campus, so that's great.

Kelli  20:27

So when you're talking about AVID family, you mean the students and the teachers? Nice. That's kind of exciting. So when we talk about being an AVID scholar, what does that mean to you?

Colby  20:41

I think it means to me to be self determined, and hardworking.

Kelli  20:49

And so that those are two things that describe you. Yes. So did your heart all your hard work help you win any awards recently?

Colby  20:57

Yes, it helped me win the science fair award. Yes.

Kelli  21:01

And so what was your What was your project for the science fair,

Colby  21:04

dry ice versus regular ice, which, which freezes a plastic water bottle faster? And what was the result? Dry ice freezes or water bottle faster? In four hours and 10 minutes? That's very specific. I love that. 

Kelli  21:19

I know. All right. So Colby, our last question. For the teachers who are listening. What advice would you give to teachers to being the best teachers that they can be to support their students

Colby  21:32

to try hard and to keep yourself organized?

Stephanie  21:38

Very good. Great advice.

Kelli  21:40

That's really good advice. I could use that. Yes, we all can. All right. Thank you, Colby.

Arciell  21:44

My name is Arciell and the college that I would like to go to is UCLA. And the career that I've been wanting to do is work as a police officer or become a football player.

Kelli  21:59

Okay. And Arciell so you're a fourth grader. 

Arciell  22:02

Yeah. 

Kelli  22:02

All right. Well, welcome. Thank you.

Stephanie  22:06

So tell us what do you love about AVID?

22:09

What I like about AVID, it keeps me clean. And it helps me around in my house. And it helps me because it tells me a lot of stuff about school. And it keeps me organized. And it helps me be a better kid instead of being like a troublemaker. 

Stephanie  22:30

All right. 

Kelli  22:31

Oh, I like that and to be kind.

Stephanie  22:33

To be kind. That's a good one. 

Arciell  22:35

Yeah.

Kelli  22:36

That made me really happy when you said Be kind. I like that. It's a good answer. So when we're talking about all the WICOR strategies, which one do you think helps you the most in class? 

Arciell  22:48

Reading? 

Kelli  22:49

Oh, okay. So it's reading something that you really like to do? 

Arciell  22:52

Yes. 

Kelli  22:53

All right. What's your favorite book?

22:55

My favorite book is the one. It's a dog man book, but I forgot what type it is. 

Stephanie  23:01

That's the whole series, right? 

23:02

Yes. The ball rolling one. I think I like reading chapter books, too. 

Stephanie  23:07

That's good.

Kelli  23:09

We like reading

Stephanie  23:10

we do. So what does it mean to be an AVID scholar?

23:15

An AVID scholar helps me to get like student of the month because of how good I do in class.

Kelli  23:22

Were you Student of the Month? Yeah.

23:23

I got two this year.

Kelli  23:25

Wow. Two this year.

Arciell  23:27

 Yeah.

Kelli  23:28

 And how did you get student at the month? What did you do to get that?

Arciell  23:32

Well, I would help around the class and, in class I would write, and always pay attention because be for one, I barely entered this school year, in fourth grade. I wasn't really doing that good. But then I started to get better. 

Kelli  23:46

Nice. 

Arciell  23:48

And then I got one from Coach K. our PE teacher.

Kelli  23:53

We are super proud of you, Mr. App, Rockstar Student of the Month twice. By now. It's pretty impressive. So Aciell if you're talking to teachers, 

Arciell  24:04

yeah. 

Kelli  24:04

And trying to help them be the best teacher they can be. What advice would you give them

Arciell  24:10

To never own like to never get frustrated with for kids like not doing the work? Just tell him to pay attention next time. Because some teachers give up or not that many teachers get like, upset that the student does not doing the work and other kids are doing the work does not really good for them.

Kelli  24:31

So maybe we we teachers need to practice our patients a little bit. 

Arciell  24:35

Yeah. 

Kelli  24:36

Good advice is good

Stephanie  24:36

That is good advice, right? Because most people aren't doing the work because they don't understand the work. Right. And they need a little extra help.

Arciell  24:42

And then some students are not paying attention and doing something in the desk and stuff.

Kelli  24:46

That's true, but not you.

Arciell  24:48

 No, no, no, no.

Kelli  24:50

 I know what I can tell already. All right. Well, thank you. Acriell was wonderful having you with us today.

Arciell  24:56

Thank you too. 

Quetzalli  24:57

My name is Quetzalli I I'm in fourth grade. And I would like to attend CSUSB because one of my second grade teachers attended there. And I would like to become a teacher. 

Stephanie  25:11

Awesome. I love it. 

Kelli  25:13

That is awesome. And as a great school, it's very pretty. So Quetzalli tell us what, what's your favorite thing about AVID?

Stephanie  25:19

My favorite thing about AVID is probably the organization because it helps. It helps me be more organized at home and at school.

Kelli  25:28

So at home, you have a nice workspace. Yes. Where everything is clean and put away. Yes, Quetzalli, I need you to come to my house and organize my workspace because mine is not that organized. So I need to learn learn from you in your fourth grade wisdom.

Stephanie  25:46

So organization, so what would you what advice would you give to kids who need to be more organized? What do you do to stay organized? 

25:53

Oh, what you could do to be more organized. You could get dividers so you can separate your work by subject so you could find your work more easily.

Stephanie  26:03

That's great advice.

Kelli  26:04

That is so Oh, what you could. You You look familiar to us. Did you have a chance to speak to AVID teachers recently?

Quetzalli  26:16

Yes.

Kelli  26:17

So tell us how that went. You were at the site team conference, right?

26:20

Yes, I was I was able to say a speech to teachers that wanted to learn about AVID, and I said a speech about what AVID was.

Stephanie  26:30

And your whole family did, right?

Kelli  26:32

Yes. And so for those of you that did not attend a site team conference Quetzalli was our keynote speaker, which is pretty impressive for a fourth grader.

Stephanie  26:43

Right. And I want to point out to you that we love that your family said that. Is there an AVID family too, right? There's not just so it's the parents, it's the teachers, it's the students. And I think that was just the greatest thing. That it's something you guys do at home as well that you guys feel connected to AVID home as a family. 

Quetzalli  27:02

Yes.

Kelli  27:04

So can I tell you my last question is of all the WICOR strategies that you do? Which one's your favorite?

27:14

Um, that'll be a hard question, because they're all my favorite because they could all help you in different ways.

Kelli  27:21

I just like such up no responses I now. Mic drop. Okay. Well, thank you, Natalia. And thank you for being here with us. Yes, thank

Stephanie  27:30

you.

Caleb  27:32

My name is Caleb. and I'm in fourth grade. I'm hoping to be a nurse practitioner. I'm going to attend Cal State San Bernardino, because my cousin was there. And she used to be in the school too. So she's also AVID.

Kelli  27:51

Oh, also AVID awesome.

Stephanie  27:53

So you said your cousin. Yeah. So your cousin went here and then went to Cal State San Bernardino? 

Caleb  27:57

Yeah.

Kelli  27:58

I know it. Love it. So you have an AVID family at home, and then also at school. That's kind of exciting. So tell us your favorite thing about AVID.

28:10

My favorite thing about AVID is probably probably the timely. Because if you're on time, it helps you with a lot of things. Like if like if you're on time for school, you get to organize and everything. You get to do what you need. And then like say after you go to an important meeting like this one, then you'd be on time as well. And you won't be late for it.

Stephanie  28:36

Why would you say that? It's important to be at school every day. Yeah.

Kelli  28:41

And I like that being on time, basically. Because being late is stressful. It is yeah.

Stephanie  28:46

So what's your favorite WICOR strategy that you use in the classroom?

Caleb  28:51

Probably the collaboration.

Stephanie  28:53

What do you love about it?

28:55

What you like some wonderful reading, then we have like one paragraph and then there's two, we choose a a and b partner. And we choose a and who's B. And then that partner reads first and then the second partner reads that the paragraph I love that

Stephanie  29:13

prime makes you more comfortable when you're reading tea right? You get a do it together and be prepared. Great.

Kelli  29:17

Yeah, I love a good AB partner. So, Caleb, what advice would you give to teachers about? How can they support their students?

29:28

To probably tell you to the teachers to tell their students to probably Oregon, like clean their desk once a week?

Stephanie  29:36

It's good advice. We all could use that advice

Kelli  29:39

that that is so killer. I have a question. So why do you think you were chosen to be an AVID ambassador?

29:49

Um, I mean, I do organize my stuff. I do help a lot in my class.

Kelli  29:56

All right. Well, thank you so much for being with us. And I Um, we look forward to seeing what great things are ahead for you.

Hope  30:04

My name is Hope. and I'm in fourth grade. I want to attend UC San Diego and become an artist.

Stephanie  30:09

Love it.

Kelli  30:10

Oh, what kind of art Hope?

Hope  30:13

I don't know yet. 

Kelli  30:15

So do you paint do draw.  Oh, okay. That's kind of excited is. So what do you like about? What do you like about AVID?

Hope  30:17

Both. organization? 

Kelli  30:31

And how so? 

Hope  30:33

Because it helps me when my teacher asked me to pull out something I can find it easily without having to go through my whole entire desk and trying to find it.

Kelli  30:42

Because isn't that stressful? If you can't find things? It's the worst.

Stephanie  30:47

And you use you guys have planners here right that you use? And how does the planner help you

Hope  30:52

to know like what we're going to be doing today, and what we're what time is going to be at.

Stephanie  30:59

So you find it useful to make sure all your stuff is in your planner. That's good.

Kelli  31:03

And so we're talking to all these AVID scholars today. So what does it mean to be an AVID scholar?

Hope  31:08

An AVID scholar is kind hardworking, determined, persevere active learners and listeners motivated understanding timely and college bound.

Kelli  31:17

Wow. I just need a minute after that. So good. That was super impressive. And so are you all those things? 

Hope  31:27

Yes. 

Kelli  31:27

Wow. Okay,

Stephanie  31:29

and do you help your fellow students be all those things to you guys work together for that? I love that.

Kelli  31:35

All right. So Hope, what advice would you give to teachers? How can I help students, maybe all those things that you said

Hope  31:45

maybe embrace AVID and if a student needs help, maybe help them out?

Kelli  31:51

embrace AVID? Yeah. All right. Well, thank you Hope.

Jayden  31:56

My name is Jayden. I'm in fourth grade. The college I want to go to is CSUSB. And the career that I want to attend is either play baseball or be an actor.

Kelli  32:12

Okay

Stephanie  32:13

So what do you love about AVID?

Jayden  32:21

I love the I think it's reading where we get to do philosophical chairs. It's basically where like, we get a debate over like a clicker thing. Like I remember this one time in our class, I think we're debating something about corn, like where if we wanted to turn into feel or something, okay.

Stephanie  32:44

So do you guys do like an assignment around it? And then you get to discuss it like, yeah,

Jayden  32:48

like, yeah, we get like a, like two things. And then like, someone goes on one side of the class and the other side of the class, and then we just end up like, debating, so like, what, like, we have to go into the text. And then when we have to tell each other what like, they why it's important. We do that. And then sometimes another kid, like say a kid on the other side, they might be able to join like the other side. If, if you say

Kelli  33:17

very well, so if you have a really good argument might make somebody else come over to your side,

Stephanie  33:21

and fourth grade textual evidence that they are doing already. That's amazing.

Kelli  33:26

Wow. All right. So of all the things that you do in class, I know you talked about philosophical chairs, which I love to, to how about to read? How about your agenda, your agenda planner? How does that help you?

33:41

Well, it like it helps me like, like, what like say if like the podcast. And the thing I wrote down like for today, I wrote down podcast and then yeah, like any, like, special event that is that there is I write it in my agenda. Like for instance, my brother's birthday, I wrote it down. And then then I remember when it is,

Stephanie  34:08

it's great. And you guys, you so you have a career that you're interested in. You guys do career research in your classes?

Jayden  34:14

Yeah, we do our morning meetings. So it's basically like, we watch three videos, I think, one that's like, college, then a career and then like a video that like, it's like a it's called SEO Video Tech where it's either like, sometimes, like with our anchor, like fragile motions, like videos like that. 

Stephanie  34:34

Very good. You do that every day. 

Jayden  34:37

Sometimes. 

Stephanie  34:38

Once a week. 

Jayden  34:39

Yeah, kinda like that.

Kelli  34:41

I love it. And so Jaden, we want to know from you because you're an AVID scholar. What advice would you give for other kids who are listening? If there's other kids who are listening that maybe don't do AVID,

Jayden  34:52

maybe like, be more organized? Help around like cuz I remember I think the start of the year was like all like messy like in my desk and then I started being organized.

Stephanie  35:10

And it's helped you. Yeah, it's good.

Kelli  35:13

Everything's better when it's organized. Yeah.

Jayden  35:15

So now I can find like, where all my papers are.

Kelli  35:18

Awesome. All right. Well, thank you Jaden.

Stephanie  35:20

Thank you.

Camille  35:22

My name is Camille. I'm in third grade. And I would like to go to CSU Colorado State University. And I want to be a teacher. Okay, and why Colorado State? Because my dad went there. And it's a really nice place. And I feel like a teacher is very common, you know, job. So I feel like it'd be very easy to learn there. Well, not easy to learn. But you know what I mean? I do too.

Stephanie  35:48

So what do you love about AVID?

Camille  35:50

AVID, I love how the AVID cheers and the different way we can support each other by doing AVID cheers.

Stephanie  35:57

Can you do an average here? Sure. All right. What's your favorite one?

36:02

Um,

36:03

I have a lot of favorites. But one of my favorites is the pencil sharpener. No, I

Kelli  36:06

don't know. Okay.

36:08

So we have a pencil, which is our index finger, stick it in the sharpener. And then we take it out, and we say you're sharp, you're sharp,

Stephanie  36:17

sharp, adding that to our conference.

Kelli  36:21

Very nice. So which WICOR strategies do you think helped you the most in class,

36:27

probably organization and collaboration. organization helps me with, organization by finding stuff when we need it. And makes I like, get super overwhelmed when everything is messy. Like in my desk, or in my binder, I just get whoa. And collaboration. I really like collaboration, because it can we can help share ideas with our friends, and sometimes our new friends, like friends that you might make. And it really helps me because I can like, share what I learned. And then we can give feedback to each other.

Stephanie  37:09

Do you feel like being an AVID has made you made it easier for you to talk to other kids? And

37:13

definitely.

Kelli  37:15

So Camille, it's pretty obvious to us. But why do you think you were selected as an AVID ambassador? 

37:22

Well, I  think I'm selected as an AVID ambassador, because my teacher, I think he sees me as a leader because I like, I like to help people. And I like to talk a lot. And my teacher says, I have a strong voice

Stephanie  37:36

you do you do have a strong voice. And it sounds like a strong positive voice a good positive role model in your class.

Kelli  37:43

So last question Camille's so for teachers who are listening, because, you know, teachers want to have students with with strong voices, and teachers want to have students who advocate for themselves. So what advice could you give to teachers to help them support their students?

Camille  38:00

Well, I, I would say that you could tell your students to go home, if they want to have a strong voice. You can tell them to go home and practice with their family and their friends, and eventually make it to the, you know, speaking in front of the class, and most schools, all schools should be a safe learning environment where you can talk to anybody and tell anybody anything.

Stephanie  38:22

That was just I know, I don't worry. We're having a moment we are. I feel like, there's just articulation coming out of you. That means you guys can just speak so well. And you're saying things that are so true. And that so many people need to hear. So

Kelli  38:37

I love that you said that school should be a safe place because it should be so you feel like like this is a very safe place to be. It is yes. Well, good. All right. Thank you so much.

Hollis  38:49

I, my name is Hollis, I'm in third grade. And I want I'm deciding over an actor or a music composer. And I want to go to UC San Diego. 

Stephanie  39:04

Love it. So Hollis, you are my tour guide my Ambassador when I was here for your showcase a few months ago. And I would want to just say before we even get started how impressed I was with you and how you're able to articulate and say all the things you knew about your school and what you loved about it. So I'm super excited to have you in front of us again. Thank you.

Kelli  39:23

So Hollis tell us what do you love about AVID?

Hollis  39:26

I love how there are so many different ways you can do things. Like there's not just one way you can answer a question. There's not just one thing you can do to find that answer.

Kelli  39:44

That's a great answer. That is that is a great answer. And that's that's life skills really that you're learning. Because if we're if we're stuck in thinking there's only one way to solve a problem, we may not solve it. Yeah. So that's an excellent point. What does it mean to you to be an AVID scholar?

Hollis  40:05

I like when I'm think about being an AVID scholar, I think about meeting my goals and learning, not just because you want, you have to go to school because you want to learn.

Kelli  40:25

Love it. Love it, love it.

Stephanie  40:28

So how does AVID help you stay organized?

Hollis  40:31

It helps me by I'm not, like, late for anything, because I have my schedule organized on paper. And I know what time I have to do things. And then we also have organization in our desk, which if you lose something in your desk, you're like, No, I can't do this assignment. So then I can't learn.

Stephanie  40:58

It's good point. 

Kelli  40:59

That's an excellent point. So he was tell us about the morning meetings.

Hollis  41:06

We have three videos, one about college, one about your career, and one about managing emotions. And when we do the college, you learn about how good some colleges are and what majors they have. So then you get to see so many new colleges and majors you could do, and how many more career careers and what, how good they are for anything.

Stephanie  41:41

What makes a good college for you?

Hollis  41:44

I think, having lots of clubs. Nice. And also having a lot of, like, communication between the teachers and the students very important. Yeah.

Kelli  42:03

So how was what advice would you give to teachers maybe who are just starting AVID? How can they be the best AVID teacher they can be,

Hollis  42:12

um, if you see a student struggling, because they can't figure out the strategy, you can, like, put it into, like smaller steps. Because if they're just have this big step that they have to do, they're all overwhelmed. And they just can't, like think. But if you are like, So you subtract this number and this number, then you can actually like think,

Stephanie  42:39

small steps. That's super important

Kelli  42:42

and manageable chunks. I love it. Art halls, do you have anything else that you want to share with us before you go?

Hollis  42:51

I think writing is also a big part in AVID writing to learn. Because if you just write you're not learning anything, but if you write about things you don't know about, then you can actually learn with that writing.

Stephanie  43:07

Awesome, right? You're learning to write and you're learning about the subject matter at the same time. Yep. Very good.

Kelli  43:13

Excellent job. Hollis. Thank you for being with us today.

Hollis  43:16

Thank you for having me.

Lilian  43:18

Okay, so my name is Lilian I'm in second grade. And I would like to be a therapist or maybe a grass cutter.

Kelli  43:29

Okay. Nice. Little bit, a little bit of a difference.

Stephanie  43:33

 And from your college morning meetings have you thought about college you'd like to go to?

Lilian  43:37

Yeah, I really want to go into Harvard. 

Stephanie  43:39

Nice. Very good.

Kelli  43:41

Why Harvard?

Lilian  43:45

Because I don't want to be like, bad at the job I'm trying to do. So I'm thinking, maybe if I get into a good college, I could actually know more about that job, and more about the career and more about what I'm supposed to do.

Stephanie  44:05

That's very true. So what do you love about AVID?

Lilian  44:13

What I love about AVID is just that. Whenever something's like hard, you could always do like a little AVID cheer. And then usually, when you do that, the hard thing when it's over, you getta go to grade.

Kelli  44:34

And so you were worried over nothing.

Stephanie  44:37

So it gives you that confidence that you need to do your work. I love it.

Kelli  44:41

So Lillian, why do you think you were selected as an AVID scholar or as an AVID ambassador? Because you're all AVID scholars, but why do you think you were selected?

Lilian  44:50

Well, I usually think it's because I talk a lot and usually, I like to introduce myself and I also like to tell people about stuff.

Kelli  45:06

So you like to tell people about AVID? Yeah. So what do you think people should know about AVID?

Lilian  45:11

I think they should know about a lot of stuff.

Kelli  45:17

Can you give us an example of an act like maybe an AVID strategy?

Lilian  45:21

Um, like, you know, when you when you bring out your binder is supposed to sign it? You know?

Kelli  45:32

So you sign it when you after you have a binder check.

Lilian  45:36

No know you sign up before you have a binder check .

Kelli  45:40

Okay. And so do you sign up? Do your do take it home and have it signed? Does your teacher sign it?

Lilian  45:47

Um, no. All right. We have to take it home, do our homework. And then usually we ask our parents to sign

Kelli  45:54

okay. So that binder helps keep you organized and make sure you get all your work done.

Lilian  46:01

I also helps us stay on track of what we're doing. And that's what I like to tell people about AVID.

Stephanie  46:13

And do you have a favorite activity you've done in class? Like is there something your teacher does that you love to do in class?

Lilian  46:18

Yeah. 

Stephanie  46:19

What is that? 

Lilian  46:21

Um, finding graphing mapping. 

Stephanie  46:23

Oh can you tell us more about that?

Lilian  46:26

So let's say I, she said spell the word example, and we would have to spell each syllable in a little box. So you'd have to sound it out in your mind instead of going like ex am ple.

Stephanie  46:45

That's how I learned it

Kelli  46:47

Put your hand under your chin to find out. Yep. But instead you put it into boxes. Yeah, I like it. That's a great strategy. Thanks, Lily. taught us something new today.

Lilian  46:57

And then once once she shows how you spell it, if you got it correct. You just put your hands in the air like you just don't care.

Stephanie  47:06

Oh, love it. Love it. So what advice would you give a teacher who's getting into AVID who's going to have some AVID students? What do they need to know?

Lilian  47:16

Um, usually, they just need to know that. They have to tell us like to greet people like to greet guests when they come in. Usually, they just need to tell us that we need to tell them what our classroom is, what our name is, and where we sit. Sometimes we also let them check our binders.

Stephanie  47:41

So when people come to your school to learn about AVID, you get to explain your binders to them and show them how you use them. 

Lilian  47:47

Yeah,

Kelli  47:47

that's great. And people are always coming to your school, aren't they?

Lilian  47:53

Only a little time time,

Kelli  47:55

because you guys are doing good word war. That's why I thank you so much, Lillian.

Stephanie  48:00

That's it for this episode of The RIMS, AVID Roundtable. If you have questions, feedback on today's episode or an idea for a future show, please tweet us @RIMSAVID or email RIMSAVID@abcss.net. We'd love to hear from you. And be sure to check out our website RIMSAVID.org For all the latest news and events and something new for our students. We now have an Instagram account just for AVID high school students follow us @RIMS_AVID for important information giveaways, shout outs and more.

Kelli  48:22

Thanks to principal Lisa McCall. And Veronica Massa, for inviting us to see their amazing kids in action. And thanks again to the Dr. Kerry on comments for spending the day with us and sharing your love of Adam. And thanks to all of you for listening. Don't forget to follow us on your favorite podcast app, so you don't miss a single episode. Join us again next time for more rims added roundtable will save your seat