Colton CA– on Tuesday, February 6th, mock evaluators from AVID came to CHS to observe students working in class for an evaluation of college readiness demonstrated in their lessons. After less than a day of observing, CHS was officially recognized as an AVID National Demonstration School.
There was a lot of work and planning involved in getting the chance to be evaluated by the national AVID program’s higher-ups. The process doesn’t consist of just one evaluation, or mock, either. There are usually multiple dates for the evaluators to visit and give notes on what to improve upon before the real mock with real stakes happens.
After last year’s mock, we took the evaluator’s advice to come back strong for the next visit, and we did.
Despite the pressure on the students, the teachers, and Ms. Montiel, our AVID coordinator to show they displayed AVID’s learning tactics properly, the mock evaluators were met with a big greeting hallway in the morning with AVID students, Cheer, and Drumline there making noise for them.
The evaluators were then presented with a 45-minute long presentation about CHS and its implementation of AVID learning methods in each class on campus by our Principal Mr. Abbot and Vice Principal Ms. Cruz, along with Ms. Montiel, and AVID Club cabinet members Isaac Ornelas, Valeria Moctezuma, and Christopher Cervantez.
When it came to observing our classes, the evaluators were so impressed with student’s learning abilities that they decided to finish evaluating early. One evaluator even stated that it was one of the best mocks that they’d observed in a while.
Preceding the entire day, Ms. Montiel, was the one spearheading most of the efforts behind preparing the school for the official mock.
“My initial thoughts when planning the mock was to ensure that our visitors from RIMS AVID and [the] AVID center stepped on our campus and immediately felt welcomed,” she said, “ I wanted them to see all the work we have been doing and the improvement from last year to this year.”
Becoming an AVID National Demonstration School means that Colton High School is an amazing example for other schools in the great implementation of the AVID College Readiness System across campus.
“Being an AVID national demonstration, school is important not only for school, but also for the students, “ Ms. Montiel explains, “Being recognized as a model school is important to all our stakeholders, including our staff, district, and community. Getting to celebrate this success is incredible because our students, teachers, and administrators worked very hard all year to make it happen”
CHS’s official Revalidation Day celebration will take place on March 7th, when the AVID Center will officially award our school with the honor and title of AVID National Demonstration School.