Samohi program bridges academic, social barriers
By ALICE OLLSTEIN Special to the Daily Press
SAMOHI Kenia Gonzalez grew up with a housekeeper mother with an eighth grade education and a landscaper father with a high school diploma. College wasn’t a common topic, and when she heard it mentioned in middle school, her teachers only encouraged her to aim for community college and Cal State schools.
Then she entered AVID. “I remember walking into AVID on the first day of ninth grade and hearing that we can apply wherever we want and go anywhere we want for college,” Gonzalez said.“I think that’s what made me strive to be a good student. It’s been hard taking these difficult classes, but we’ve always had someone telling us they believe in us. Now I’m going to Berkelely.”
Gonzalez is one of 20 students at Santa Monica High School enrolled in AVID, a program designed to support minority, low-income and first generation college students through the confusing and exhausting college application process.
The AVID class of 2008 achieved 100 percent acceptance to four-year universities, with 90 percent attending private colleges. Their combined academic scholarships exceed $600,000. At the senior awards ceremony on earlier this week every member of the AVID senior class won the Tech for Success scholarship, which includes a free laptop computer for college.
“It’s our running joke that every scholarship we apply for, someone here will win,” said senior AVID teacher RoseAnn Salumbides. “Our AVID ‘08 class has surpassed even my expectations.”
AVID, which stands for Advancement Via Individual Determination, came to Samohi in 1990 and became officially certified in 2000. Teachers can recommend students for AVID at the end of middle school if they demonstrate the proper criteria: a GPA between 2.5 and 3.5, a lower economic situation, being the first in their family to attend college in the U.S., and demonstrated potential and motivation. Many AVID students come from a home where English is not the dominant language.
At Samohi, AVID helps students through SAT prep, college research, college and scholarship applications and personal essays. The program also encourages them to take the Santa Monica College, Advanced Placement and honors classes that will make them a competitive applicant.
“We help them build the skills they need to get in, but also be successful and stay in college,” said Gilda de la Cruz, the chair of the AVID program.
More important still is the community the program provides.
“We are a family here,” said Crystal Estrella, who will attend San Francisco State. “It’s like a second home.”
De la Cruz explained that AVID provides students with support they often don’t feel from their friends and family. “[In AVID] there’s no stigma to trying to get good grades or go to college,” de la Cruz said. “At Samohi, some students feel that [academic achievement] is trying to be white.”
AVID seniors voiced similar feelings.
“There’s unintentional segregation,” explained Gonzalez. “When I walk into an AP class, I’m usually the darkest one there. I stand out, and people don’t know how to treat me. I had someone tell me to my face that they thought I was lower than them because I learned Spanish before I learned English. It was good knowing that I had a support group with AVID.”
At the L.A. County AVID ceremony on May 22, senior Liliana Palma gave the Keynote address on trying to find a comfortable social space in such a divided school.
“I have my honors and AP classes, but I don’t feel accepted there,”she said.“Then my Latino community feels that I’m betraying them by taking those classes. AVID is right there in the center.” Her speech aired twice on KTLA.
Several students felt that the Samohi administration often makes broad assumptions that ignore their unique situations, either expecting too much or not enough.
“In my AP government class, we had to interview a professional person, and the teacher said, ‘Just go interview your parents,’” Gonzalez remembered.“Everyone else in that class can just go talk to their parents, who went to Yale or Harvard and are now doctors or lawyers. I can’t.”
On the other end of the spectrum, senior Nivia Alvarado, who will attend Smith College, feels that students in her situation are not challenged enough. “The level of expectation of us is usually low,” she said. “We’re not told to push for private schools.”
Evelyne Santiago, who will attend Ithaca College, agrees.
“Our councilors assume a lot just because we’re minorities,” she said. “They don’t tell us about certain opportunities.”
This year, to assist minority students not enrolled in AVID, the AVID seniors did an outreach program for seniors in regular classes.
In total, they helped 93 seniors complete a Cal State application, and 43 to apply to UCs and private universities.
“These students had the potential, but not the support,” said Daniel Gerena, who Statistics from this year show AVID’s ability to help minority students excel in Samohi’s most difficult classes: ■9th Grade AVID: 22 percent are taking at least one Honors class ■ 10th Grade AVID: 48 percent are taking at least one Honors/AP class ■ 11th Grade AVID: 79 percent are taking at least one Honors/AP class ■ 12th Grade AVID: 85 percent are taking at least one AP class will attend Emerson College in Boston. “I help out my friends who aren’t in AVID, to keep them from falling through the cracks, but how many people are we leaving behind?”
For AVID students, the struggle continues in the home.
“I take AP classes, and my mom doesn’t understand how hard it is for me,” said Katherine Galvez, who will attend UC Davis. “She thinks I should finish all my homework in an hour and do all these chores. [Teachers have] helped her see that we have to do so much work, including community service and clubs, to get into college.”
Not only the workload, but the desire to leave home for college raises tension with parents.
Salumbides has addressed this by scheduling numerous parent meetings and workshops, including a talk by social studies department chair Jaime Jiménez to speak to parents about his experience sending a child off to Yale.
Parents of AVID seniors have discussed forming a support group when their children leave for college.
“If any program has a direct impact on the two-school phenomenon, it’s AVID,” emphasized de la Cruz.“It really bridges that gap for students. It’s the reason the class aren’t even more divided. That’s what happens when you have students working towards the college goal.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on June 6, 2008. Read the original PDF.