by Almeta Davis
Contributor

FRANKLIN
Students from both Franklin High and J.P. King Middle schools traveled to Charlotte, North Carolina, on Thursday, Feb. 25, to attend the first Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) Day in conjunction with the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association Tournament. The activity was held at the Charlotte Convention Center, while the games were held at Time Warner Cable Arena.

AVID is a college readiness system available to elementary and middle school students. It is designed to increase the number of students who enroll and succeed in higher education and in their lives beyond high school.

Although the program serves all students, according Franklin’s AVID District Director Kelvin Edwards, it is focused on the least served students in the academic middle.

“We are targeting students who have a 1.5, 2.5 and stretching it out to a 3.0 grade point average in order to make them understand that college is reachable,” Edwards said. “Starting in Middle School with the 6th grade and in the High School with the 9th grade, we hope to later expand the program to the 5th grade elementary level”.

AVID has been implemented in approximately 5,000 schools in 44 states, the District of Columbia, and 16 countries/territories and impact more than 800,000 students in grades K-12 and in 43 postsecondary institutions.

Students enter the program through an application and interview process. The final selections are made by the AVID panel; comprised of teachers and administrators.

Currently, Franklin City Public Schools has 21 students at J.P. King and 20 at Franklin High enrolled. They are required to attend weekly AVID electives. During that time they are exposed to college curriculums, tutorials, meetings with college representatives, trips to campuses to attend seminars and a new speaker each Friday. Additionally, they have added a career readiness portion to the program, bringing in local professionals.

According to Edwards he was first exposed to the AVID program while working in the North Carolina Public School System.

“This program has been proven because 100% of my students enrolled in the program at that time went on to attend and graduate from college. The benefits from AVID are already showing, our students are more motived, organized, talking about going to college and are excited to be in the program. We are looking for to graduating our first class in 2019.”

AVID Day was spent with students attending education-focused events that provided career exploration. They meet with college recruiters from Delaware, Maryland, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Virginia. They learned tips to prepare for college. They got the inside track on the collegiate experience from recent college graduates.

Students attended panel discussions on college admissions, sports marketing and college what to expect, which was headed up by educator Sonya Curry, wife of retired NBA player Dell Curry and mother of reigning NBA Most Valuable Player Steph Curry of the Golden State Warriors.

Students were treated to a tournament game at Time Warner Cable Arena between Bowie State University and St. Augustine’s University at day’s end.