As 2024 comes to a close, we’re excited to gather with our incredible community at the AVID National Conference, taking place December 12–14 in Dallas, Texas. This event will bring together educators and leaders from across the nation to celebrate success stories, share innovative practices, and shape the future of education.
NatCon also marks the beginning of a remarkable milestone—AVID’s 45th Anniversary!
In 2025, we’ll commemorate this achievement with “Every 45 Days” events, updates, and reflections that showcase AVID’s transformative impact over the years. Join us as we honor our legacy and continue advancing the future of education together.
Wishing you a joyful holiday season. We can’t wait to see you at NatCon and kick off this unforgettable year with you!
Warm regards,
AVID Center
AVID National Story
New Blog: The Power of Community
What happens when educators join forces to grow, reflect, and elevate their practice together? Gina Gamnis, AVID Executive Director for the Upper Midwest Area, shares how the AVID Certified Educators program is building a nationwide community of passionate educators committed to refining their practice and preparing students for successful futures. Discover how this unique professional learning experience transforms teaching and empowers students through collaboration, vulnerability, and shared purpose.
Investing in Growth: How the AVID Certified Educator Program Energized Colleen Fitzgerald
Colleen Fitzgerald, a science teacher and AVID Site Coordinator at Woodbury Junior-Senior High School—a National Demonstration School in New Jersey—is spotlighted for exemplary participation in the inaugural AVID Certified Educator cohort. With 34 years in education and over 12 years as an AVID staff developer, Colleen joined the program to refine her skills and build meaningful connections.
“I think it’s just like a Summer Institute—you leave feeling refreshed and revived,” Colleen shares. However, unlike a one-time event, this program offers continuous opportunities for growth. “I get that every time we meet in our cohorts.”
She credits the program with fostering collaboration: “You develop an even stronger bond with your cohort members and feel comfortable sharing areas you want to improve,” Colleen says. “I’ve been able to connect with teachers at all different experience levels.”
The program also gave her time to reflect. “It has really made me stop and say, ‘OK, is this working? How can I do this better?’” Colleen explains. “You always want to pause and reflect on your pedagogy, but you don’t always have the time to do it.”
Her advice to prospective educators thinking of applying for the AVID Certified Educator Program is: “Think about how you can be your best self. By joining this cohort, you surround yourself with people who share that same mindset.”
Applications for the next cohort open in January—don’t miss this transformative opportunity!
Each AVID Community Newsletter will feature a Spotlight story, highlighting the amazing anecdotes out there in the AVID world from educators just like you!
Upcoming at AVID
Coin Campaign
Are you an AVID Elective or AVID Excel teacher who has not yet received the special coin gift from AVID CEO Dr. Thuan Nguyen? If so, please provide your information here so we can ship this gift to you.
The 2025 AVID Student Speaker Contest Deadline has been Extended to Jan. 2!
Our 2025 AVID Student Speaker Contest is an incredible opportunity for elementary, middle, and high school AVID students to share their voices at AVID Summer Institutes next year.
Students can submit a speech between 800–1,000 words for a chance to win a $500 honorarium, a letter of recommendation from our AVID CEO, and the opportunity to speak on a national stage—with travel and luxury accommodations covered. Don't miss this chance to inspire and make their voices heard.
Exciting Opportunity | Preview the New AVID Elective Certification & Schoolwide Recognition Instruments!
We’re thrilled to announce the launch of our pilot program for the newly refined Coaching and Certification Instrument (CCI)—and we’d love for your middle or high school to participate!
The revised instruments focus on enhancing AVID Elective programs and AVID’s schoolwide impact. We believe the new instruments will provide sites with better and more meaningful ways to know the impact AVID is having on their campus and see how strong their implementation is. This is a great opportunity for middle and high school leaders to reflect on their implementation while simultaneously providing feedback and shaping the future of these tools.
We will not ask sites to take on extra work. Sites that participate in the pilot and use the new instruments will not have to complete the current CCI on top of that. School Site Coordinators or principals can sign up by December 17, 2024, to participate in the pilot that begins January 2025. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to impact AVID’s future on your campus and beyond!
AVID Ignite® Virtual Professional Learning Jan. 28–29!
Immerse yourself in 12 hours of virtual personalized learning, engage with ten dynamic Communities of Practice, and take advantage of nationwide networking opportunities—all designed to elevate your skills and strategies for the 2025 school year.
The application window for the 2025 AVID Certified Educator cohort opens January 6, 2025! This program is designed to foster professional growth, encourage reflection on best practices, and empower educators like you to make a lasting impact on students' futures.
To learn more about the program's benefits and structure, we recommend listening to our latest AVID Open Access podcast, "Pedagogy to Prepare Students for Their Futures," featuring Gina Gamnis, AVID Executive Director for the Upper Midwest Area. Listen to the podcast!
Additionally, if funding is a concern, we've gathered a list of potential grants and funding opportunities on our website to support your certification journey. Many grant application windows are opening soon, so explore these options!
January 30 | Join Us for Our Next Session in the Advancing Multilingual Learners Webinar Series
We are excited to continue the Advancing Multilingual Learners Webinar Series with our next session on January 30, 2025.
Our upcoming webinar, "Small Shifts That Make Big Lifts: Daily Instruction for Elementary Multilingual Scholars," will focus on proficiency level differentiation for multilingual students.
We'll explore research-based language acquisition strategies and how the new AVID Emerge Elementary Toolkit can accelerate language development and empower multilingual learners. You'll also learn how these routines can be integrated into an adopted ELD program or be used as a foundation for ELD curriculum development.
The 2025–2026FAFSA is open! Slides (available in Microsoft PowerPoint or Google Slides) are updated monthly to support AVID students and their peers schoolwide.
New for December: FAFSA completion supports, account creation for students and contributors, state-specific resources for California, Florida, and Texas.
Remember to have students check Tallo regularly for college and career scholarships!
If it relates to education and matters to you, we're talking about it on our podcasts.Tune in every Tuesday and Wednesday for a new episode of Tech Talk For Teachers and Unpacking Education. If you're interested in hearing from our alums, tune into AVIDly Adulting™, the podcast where guests tackle the wild ride of transitioning into their first career and all of the life lessons in between and beyond.
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