AVID letter to teachers

Dear ______________________                                                                                     Date ____________

            My name is _______________________________ and my AVID teacher

(Mr. Mers – amers@wps60.org) wanted me to inform you that I am enrolled in Waukegan High School’s AVID elective program. AVID is an acronym for Advancement Via Individual Determination. Many of us will be the first to attend a four year college or university in our families. As an AVID student I am required to use a one binder system for note taking so that I can become better organized.

            In the AVID elective class, students engage in Writing, Inquiry, Collaboration, Organization

and Reading (WICOR) strategies to help us master rigorous academic content. High expectations are paired with AVID strategies for success (such as Preparedness, Cornell Notes, Time Management, Organization, Goal Setting and in-class Tutorial Sessions). At Waukegan H.S., AVID is a campus-wide college readiness support system that works hand-in-hand with the core content courses to prepare AVID students for more challenging work through the following:

·   Writing – Daily writing, such as Cornell Notes, Learning Logs, Quick Writes, Reflections, and

Peer-Evaluations.

·  Inquiry – Building inquiry into daily lessons with the use of skilled questioning techniques, Costa’s 3 Levels of Thinking, Socratic Seminars, investigations and question-guided research

·  Collaboration – Fostering teamwork skills through activities like Socratic Seminars, Group Activities, Projects and Peer Editing.

·  Organization - Building Organizational Skills through Time Management, Binder Checks and Agendas.

·  Reading – Building reading skills in every subject through deep reading strategies, note-taking, graphic organizers, vocabulary building, and summarizing.

“AVID's mission is to close the achievement gap by preparing all students for college readiness and success in a global society.”

            To do this AVID must equip and empower its student with school wide college readiness skills so that they can better succeed in high school and more importantly, in college. If you have any questions or concerns about my academic progress please feel free to contact my AVID teacher as soon as possible.

                                                                                         Thank You,