AVID students and teachers participate in conference
AVID students and teachers from throughout the area will hear
Stanford instructor and writer Hilton Obenzinger deliver the
keynote address at AVID’s 9th Annual Writers Conference on March 23
at Stanford University.
The students, representing 32 middle and high schools from Palo
Alto to Salinas, also will have the chance to hear from former AVID
students and other students about how skills they developed in the
program helped them in college.
AVID students and teachers participate in conference
AVID students and teachers from throughout the area will hear Stanford instructor and writer Hilton Obenzinger deliver the keynote address at AVID’s 9th Annual Writers Conference on March 23 at Stanford University.
The students, representing 32 middle and high schools from Palo Alto to Salinas, also will have the chance to hear from former AVID students and other students about how skills they developed in the program helped them in college.
More than 400 AVID students and teachers will attend the conference, which features writing workshops led by faculty and staff from Stanford and other universities. The conference follows the participation by more than 3,700 AVID middle and high school students in a “Write-Off,” a timed writing exercise modeled after the CSU English Placement Test essay. The write-off is designed to heighten students’ enthusiasm for writing, and to sharpen their skills for on-demand writing and other college entrance exams.
Obenzinger, a lecturer at Stanford, writes fiction, poetry, history and criticism. He recently published an autobiographical novel, “Busy Dying.” Welcoming remarks at the conference will be delivered by Deborah Stipek, dean of the Stanford University School of Education.
The Region V AVID Program, which serves the conference students, includes 87 middle and high schools in Monterey, San Benito, Santa Clara, and Santa Cruz Counties. It is based at the Santa Clara County Office of Education.
AVID – Advancement Via Individual Determination – is an in-school academic support program for grades 4-12 that prepares students for college eligibility and success. The program places academically average students in advanced classes aimed at preparing them for enrollment and success in 4-year colleges and universities. A goal is to present opportunities to minority, rural, low-income and other students who don’t have a college-going tradition in their families.
The AVID program has helped make college a reality for thousands of students for nearly three decades. In California in 2008, 89 percent of AVID seniors had completed four-year college entrance requirements, compared with 36 percent for their statewide counterparts.
For more information on the program, visit www.avid.org.
Finalists selected for rotary speech contest
The Rotary Clubs of Hollister, Gilroy, Morgan Hill and San Juan Bautista held their annual speech contest finals for the South Bay Area. This year’s finalist Emily Nelson, of Anzar High School, will go on to compete in the next level of competition against schools from the Bay Area.
Other participants in the local final included Hanna Bernosky, of San Benito High School, Tyler Bushman, of Oakwood Country High School, and Zach Bassi, of Christopher High School.
The goals of the speech contest is to increase the students’ awareness of the importance of being able to speak effectively before a group, to increase public knowledge of what Rotary does locally and throughout the world and to teach young people the value of volunteer service while allowing them the chance to learn the value of a fair competition. Cash prizes are awarded with the hopes that they will go toward further a student’s education.
Hollister resident earns degree from Western Governors University
Aubrey Carruth, of Hollister, received a post-baccalaureate teacher preparation program in Elementary Education degree from Western Governors University.
The online, nonprofit university awarded more than 120 graduate degrees at its semi-annual commencement ceremony in Salt Lake City Feb. 20.
