November 8, 2007

College doors open for Kaiser High School's AVID students

By BOB OTTO

Dozens of college banners are tacked on the walls of David Ungerer's Kaiser High School classroom -- Cal Poly Pomona, Cal State Fullerton, Chico State, San Diego State, and many more.

The banners serve as motivation for Ungerer's AVID students that if they strive, work, and dream high enough, they can attend the college of their choice.

AVID stands for Advancement Via Individual Determination. AVID's mission, and that of Ungerer and Olivia Colangelo, who oversee the program at Kaiser, is to prepare students for a college education. AVID offers a rigorous program of instruction in academic "survival skills" and college level entry skills.

Students in the program commit themselves to improvement and preparation for college. Students such as Perla Sanchez. She is 17, a senior, intelligent, and plans on attending UC San Diego or San Diego State on a nursing scholarship.

"Without AVID I would have had to lower my choice of colleges," she said. "AVID (students) are a group of people that challenge themselves to make a better life for themselves. You can't be a slacker in AVID, or you'll get kicked out."

Colangelo has taught for 33 years and she teaches Advanced Placement English at Kaiser, while Ungerer teaches AP Algebra II and Geometry. They, along with James Maiorca, Kelly Reasons and Trinidad Gonzales teach, tutor, motivate, and inspire AVID students to acquire top grades, which in turn earns them scholarships to some of the state's and country's top colleges.

"In 2007 we had 64 AVID seniors who took 108 advanced placement classes," said Ungerer. "In 2008 we have 56 seniors taking 215 AP classes."

Why the huge increase? "This is a tight group, but very competitive," he said. Ungerer unabashedly claims this year's AVID class the best ever at Kaiser and, he said, "It could be one of the top classes in the state."

And some of the students in this class have received letters from colleges throughout the country -- including Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Dartmouth, and Stanford, to name just a few.

JUST HOW competitive are these AVID students? Well, for example, take Megan Perez. She is 17, and carries a weighted GPA of 4.6, which accounts for all the AP classes she has taken. When Megan took her first calculus test, she scored a 98. Great score, right? Not good enough, said Megan, so she re-took the test and scored a 100 percent.

Megan, along with Catalina Ramirez and Noriel Luna, post the three highest GPA's in the school. All three are AVID students, and all three will become first-generation college students in their families when they graduate next spring.

And that first-generation status fills them with pride, and along with it, carries some responsibility. They are expanding the educational boundaries of their families -- opening college doors for their siblings.

"I'll be a first-generation college student in my family," said Megan, who has set her goal on attending Stanford or UCLA. "College gives me more opportunity to help my family."

Megan's father was stricken with cancer 12 years ago. He has under gone brain surgery and receives radiation treatment. And her younger brother is autistic. The family's financial means are limited, but with a college scholarship, Megan says she can fulfill her goal of becoming a lawyer and have the financial means to help her family. "My main concern is taking care of my younger brother," she said.

THE Kaiser AVID students are a close-knit group that helps one another. Juniors and seniors tutor freshman and sophomores. Progress reports keep students on track and identify subjects that students may be struggling in -- like higher math and English. And the program emphasizes college test preparation.

"It has helped me prep for tests (SAT II and PSAT), and helps me in classes I struggle in a little like math," said Perez.

An 800 is a perfect SAT II subject test score. Efrain Encinas, Stephanie Almaraz, and Noriel Luna all scored a perfect 800 in Spanish. And in English, Erica Clark scored high with a 730.

"The test results from the recent SAT II Subject tests are proving that AVID students continue to score highly on college exams," said Ungerer. "Twelve kids have been contacted by Ivy League schools. We've had one since the school opened."

The AVID program began at Kaiser in 1999 with 44 students -- the year the school opened. Each year the numbers have risen, with this year's enrollment at 340. Terry Macias's daughter Gabriela, 15, is one of those 340. And her son, Javier, 18, was in the program for four years, and because of AVID and his athletic foot, earned a scholarship to the University of Findlay, a private school in Findlay, Ohio.

"He got a scholarship for kicking (the football), but he had to have at least a 3.5 GPA to get in that private school," said Macias. "He struggled a little in math and he got the help he needed in AVID. AVID focused him. It got him inspired and motivated. It's why my son is what he is now."

Each year Ungerer takes his AVID students on a little "trip" designed to open their eyes to the educational possibilities that exist beyond Fontana. They visit about a dozen colleges over five days, including prestigious universities such as Cal Berkeley and UC Davis.

"We want to get them to broaden their horizons," said Ungerer. The trip has Catalina Ramirez, 17, who was born in Mexico, aiming for Rice or Yale universities.

"I'll be the first in my family going to college," said Ramirez. "I've always liked learning and AVID showed me that I had a chance to go to college."

For Noriel Luna, 17, AVID has opened educational doors beyond what he thought possible. His 4.37-weighted GPA will undoubtedly earn him a scholarship to universities of his choice -- including USC, Stanford or Columbia.

"My dad, he's real happy I prepared to go on to higher education," said Luna. "He's proud of me, too."