On Wednesday, I attended one of my favorite annual functions, the Culver City Education Foundation’s benefactor thank you breakfast, now in its 15th year. CCEF does a great job fundraising for the school district’s fine schools and the resturant Akasha puts together a delicious breakfast. I was pleased to learn that the foundation will scratch out a record-amount six-figure check to the district this year and delighted to learn that the organic garden program is producing radishes – or was it turnips? As always, the generous business leaders and concerned residents of this city turned out to support the worthy cause, but what really caught my attention this year was a 19-year-old woman (let me finish), who graduated from Culver City High School and has earned a 3.0 grade point average after her first year at California State University Northridge.
Shantenee Jones spoke to the CCEF benefactors about her troubled experience in high school and her subsequent rise to success that she attributed to a program designed to help students who might otherwise fall through the cracks in the system. The program is relatively new; the cracks aren’t. I know – I fell face first into one.
For those of you who aren’t aware, I dropped out of school. I was barely 17 when the ink was dry on the deal, but I was washed up by the middle of my sophomore year. There was no AVID course (Advancement Via Individual Determination) when I ended my brief but tumultuous high school career.
The program focuses on the least-served students in the academic middle – first-generation college-bound students. It raises the expectations of students, accelerates their learning and uses research-based methods of instruction to get kids into college. Students learn strategies that enhance their note-taking, outlining, writing, speaking, reading, test-taking and self-awareness. The course also includes college-motivational activities and intensive preparation for the ACT, SAT I and SAT II tests.
And the AVID course is but one of many great programs that the foundation makes possible. So, if you’ve ever considered donating to the Culver City Education Foundation, I would strongly encourage you to do so. Take it from me: no high schooler deserves to live on the salary of a community newspaper editor.