AVID Newsletter

Come get some great books!

Each week, we will feature a collection of staff members from each school at random!

When you see these amazing people, make sure to tell them THANK YOU for making our district the best place to be!

(click the 'expand arrows' icon to the top right of each photo to enlarge it)

Focus: Writing - Aligning as a District

7:30 - 11:30 BHS Cafeteria

...who can you spot doing incredible things at each of these schools?

👏 Henry L. Slater is an AVID-Certified School! 🎉

Mission: Empower all students through high expectations to embrace learning and achieve personal success.

Vision: Embraced – Educated - Empowered

Mrs. Davis's Kindergarteners celebrated the 100th Day of School by dressing up as 100-year-olds -- and showing how even our smallest learners are growing into BIG leaders!

Using the AVID Collaboration framework, Ms. Olson's students actively discussed and exchanged ideas through strategies like Think-Pair-Share and Inside-Outside Circles.

Students in Ms. Olson's class used a structured two-column graphic organizer to support AVID Organization and Writing by writing a word that begins with the letter D and illustrating it, helping them learn how to connect ideas, organize their thinking, and deepen understanding through both words and visuals.

Miss Ellibee’s class was so excited to welcome GoSTEM to our school! Students had the opportunity to work together to power a small light bulb through hands-on learning. Marceline and Skyler did a wonderful job collaborating and demonstrating great teamwork!

Mrs. Crawford's 1st graders celebrated the 100th Day of School with a trail mix snack! The students counted and graphed the trail mix before eating!

Miss Johnson's first graders used their inquiry and collaboration skills to complete the 2025 EOREN Regional Math Challenge!

Ms. Hildebrand's first graders used three column notes to organize information and write nonfiction books about penguins!

Miss Weil’s class did a great job using chalk to draw a bird with the help of some expert artists teaching them how to use the chalk.

Thank you, GoSTEM, for a fun learning opportunity about solar energy! Students in Mrs. Burns’s class loved taking their solar panel with a light outside to see how bright their light would shine (even on a foggy morning)!

Students in Mrs. Burns’s class enjoyed a World Cafe project with their reading. During this project groups of 3 students worked together using their reading magazine to help answer the question in the middle of the page. They then rotated to a new question and rotated their group role. Pictured is Reid, Lexi, and Spencer

Students in Mrs. Wilke’s class identified their strengths and set goals for the rest of the school year. The flowers represent their strengths, and the pots represent their goals. Liam’s goal is to reach 120 words per minute by the end of the year!

AVID Evidence Winner!!!

Mrs. Davis's third grade was wrapping up their opinion writing unit with the editing and peer editing part of the writing process. Here they are peer editing, checking our writing buddy's work for a strong opinion statement, reasons that make sense, and examples or evidence to go with those reasons. We are proud of our hard work in writing!

Mrs. Davis's 3rd grade is writing to learn left and right! For this particular assignment, students completed a K-W-L about weather and climate. The K stands for "What I KNOW" about a topic, while the W stands for "What I WANT to learn" about a topic. These are often done at the beginning of a unit to bring student's background knowledge to the forefront of their minds and help them make connections. At the end of the unit, we will return to this page in our science journal and add the L part, which stands for "What I LEARNED" about the topic.

Mrs. Fenton's class reviewed last quarter's Bulldog goals that we set to determine this next quarters goals. They then created 5 goals to help show "Oh the Places We'll Go with Goals." Each student reflected upon their previous goal's success rate and adjusted for their final quarter of academic and social learning.

In honor of Dr. Seuss, Mrs. Baddeley's class took a few minutes to actually read some of his amazing books. Students were so excited to be able to read so many pages in his books!! Everyone was able to read his books which a very good feeling. Some read alone and some read with a partner!

Mrs. Baddeley's class did a great job finding the weather in Burns for the day and then turning it into a real live weather report. Malachi was just finishing up his writing and ready to share with his partner to go LIVE with the report!

Mr. Weible’s class was taking advantage of the warm weather and participated in a reflex Mystery Science experiment outside.

Mrs. Bertrand's class is starting to learn about the Oregon Trail. The students started off making their own wagons.

Ms. Hughes’s 6th-grade AVID class visited Slater’s 5th-grade classrooms to share what AVID in middle school is all about. Students from Ms. Howes’, Mrs. Marshall’s, and Ms. Murphy’s classes had the opportunity to hear directly from AVID students, who presented information, led engaging games, and answered questions about the exciting opportunities available in the AVID elective. It was a wonderful day of learning and inspiration for our future AVID students!

Mrs. Marshall's students presented animal reports using Google Slides. Students were required to research an animal and create a presentation sharing important facts about their chosen animal. They did a great job organizing her information and presenting their learning!

These students in Ms. Murphy's class had so much fun with the Go-Stem presentation. They had a little free time at the end and several students started to brainstorm what would happen if they hooked all their solar units together. With the presenters encouragement, they put parts together. They were so excited when all their solar panels made the light light up! It took teamwork and excitement to make it all work!

Ms. Howes' class worked in collaborative groups to create their Native American Shelters during 5th-grade rotations in Mrs. Marshall's Social Studies class.

Students in Mrs. Marshall’s class loved participating in creating their bird art for the Migratory Bird Festival. Students began by listening to a presentation about birds in Harney County, then selected a bird to draw using pastels.

Board Member Doug Furr was a tremendous support as students engaged in bird art. Here he is teaching Miss Howes's student, Thomas Peasley, about shading and blending colors to make the perfect color to represent his wood duck.

Miss Howes' 5th grade class has been integrating the use of technology to research and put together a slideshow presentation on an animal of their choice. Students had to identify characteristics that describe the animal, what it eats, where it live, and fun facts about it. They then had to create a art piece in the form of a Mosaic of showcase their animal.

Here is Luke presenting his report about the beluga.

Students in Mrs. Knox's reading intervention groups are practicing decoding words by “driving the car” over each sound. This helps students began to blend sounds together instead of saying them as a singular sound. Pip loved it!!

Jordan Miller was working so hard in a fine motor skills group with Mrs. Trent!

Students in Bertrand’s class engaged in both verbal and written exit tickets to reflect on their learning in SEL with Ms. Henshaw. Using writing-to-learn strategies, students processed a social-emotional lesson on growth and learning from mistakes, with some sharing ideas aloud while others write thoughtful responses.

In PE with Ms. Tibbetts, students worked their way through the various challenges and levels of jump rope! With each challenge that they passed, students got to sign their name to take on the next color belt challenge. Way to go, jump rope ninjas!

Students are loving getting to learn about and practice on many different instruments with Mr. Oliver!

Mission: To provide staff and students with a safe, respectful, responsible, and professional environment to learn and grow.

Vision: To produce students who are emotionally, socially, and academically prepared for high school.

8th grade and 7th grade AVID students attended the Career Fair!

Students explored a variety of college and career pathways through engaging presentations from professionals and representatives from different fields and colleges. They participated in hands-on activities that allowed them to interact with real-world skills and experiences. Students also gathered resources and materials to take home as they continue thinking about their future college and career goals.

Seventh-grade AVID students recently visited Slater to connect with 5th grade classes and share their AVID experience. As part of this opportunity, students collaborated to create and deliver engaging presentations that highlighted key aspects of the AVID program, including its purpose, expectations, and benefits. They also reflected on their personal reasons for being in AVID and how it supports their academic and future goals. To make the experience interactive and memorable, the presentations included fun games and opportunities for younger students to win prizes, creating an enthusiastic and inspiring environment for all involved.

Mrs. Swindlehurst's language arts students were using the critical reading process to analyze the Nuremberg laws 1935. Students are reading the Diary of Anne Frank.

Miss Hughes' 6th Grade ELA students engaged in a collaborative AVID-style learning activity centered on the study of fairy tales. Working in small groups, students read the original Grimm version of a selected fairy tale and compared it to its Disney adaptation. Using a Venn diagram, they analyzed similarities and differences between the two versions.

Mrs. Moss's health class took the yoga mats outside for their physical activity unit. Collaboration, Peer-to-peer leadership, and reflection were used during this activity. By having each student teach a pose, the class practiced active listening and mutual respect. The "leader" practiced clear communication, while the "learners" provided non-verbal support through participation. After each pose, students took time to reflect on how the different breathing or body movement techniques could be matched with a feeling of anxiety or stress in everyday situations.

PE

Ms. Nonnenmacher's students partnered up in PE class in order to complete a quick write to answer this essential question "Why is it important to start creating healthy habits in life while you are young?"

Mrs. Cate's science students collaborated to create a working model of lungs. This model showed how the diaphragm helps the lungs inhale and exhale during the respiratory process.

8th Graders in Mrs. Sorenson's class created a scale model of Earth's geologic timeline. Many students were surprised how short our current era is compared to the history of Earth.

Students in Mr. Tiernan's graphic design class utilized a "design vocabulary" wordbank to help them conduct an in progress critique of another students work. They utilized these words in their feedback.

Mrs. Ayling's students participated in some partner math! Students changed partners every 2 problems. When they got a new partner, they compared answers and then did the next two answers.

Miss Komperda's math class participated in Math Task Stations, where every student had a Math Task Card. In the Task Card, they were told to convert a percent, decimal, or fraction to another form using their One Wheel Math Notes. As a class, they would work together to complete all 24 Math Tasks!

In 8th grade social studies with Ms. Doty, students took a deep dive into the Constitution using strong AVID strategies! After building a foundation with focused note-taking as a class, they collaborated in two different groups to review and strengthen their understanding—practicing communication, critical thinking, and teamwork.

Great job demonstrating inquiry, collaboration, and ownership of learning!

Mr. Moss's Leadership class held the first annual March dodgeball tournament. The winning team consisted of Ellie Ann, Navarro, Sawyer, Cord, Kamden and Cash!

Students in HMS leadership, AVID 8 and AVID 7 were rewarded for their hard work with a retreat to Crystal Crane Hot Springs on the last day of the 3rd quarter.

A favorite activity in Home Ec with Ms. Bull...cooking Rice Krispie treats and getting creative! Students like to add colors and decorations. A great activity to practice teamwork and collaboration.

Mission Statement: Empowering students to learn, grow, and lead.

Vision Statement: To foster a community of learners where curiosity, critical thinking, and academic excellence equip students for success through an AVID framework.

Students in Ms. Howes’ Basic Design classes engaged in writing during their project critique by writing an artist statement to describe the subject matter of their artwork, justify their artistic choices, and explain their use of the elements of art and principles of design. Students also used sticky notes to leave comments and suggestions on their peers’ artwork, asking questions and identifying successful or unsuccessful application of the elements and principles. Here is Emily’s artwork and artist statement.

"I made a collage of music and soft designs. I made this piece by using value. I want viewers to see the design and shading of each one. I struggled with drawing them perfectly. I would've done differently is to take more time and add more shading."

Ms. Kokesh's Art students applied AVID writing strategies by using academic vocabulary and complete sentences to clearly communicate their artistic process in their Project 2 Artist Statements. Here is Coltin writing his statement.

Mr. Johnson´s class was busy with a GIST writing activity using 20 words to describe themselves in Spanish.

Ethan's says:

Ethan is athletic.

I am funny. I am handsome and tall. I am nice.

Mr. Paul's Advisory students were given an article on Professionalism and were asked to highlight as they read. Orange was to represent words or phrases that jumped out to each student and pink for the 4 to 6 topics that they were the most important. Using this, students will do a quick write and create a slide show that they will present to the rest of the class.

Students in Ms. Howes’s advisory class also explored the topic of professionalism in school, in future job interviews, careers, and more, applying WICOR through writing reading. Students read through the article “Professionalism for High School Students”, highlighting only 20 key words they feel encompass the overall focus of the article in orange, and highlight key phrases in green. They were invited to share some of the highlighted keywords on the board before writing an AVID Gist 20 Word Summary, where they had to summarize the article in exactly 20 words using their key words and phrases to help. They finally participated in “Stand, Share, Sit” to share their summary with the class. Here is Baileigh’s article and Gist summary.

Her GIST says, "It is very important to be a team player, and an understanding professional, ethical student during your entire highschool career."

Students in Ms. Howes’ Algebra I classes explored writing through an AVID synectics and analogous thinking activity where they brainstormed 4 words based on the categories provided (type of exercise, holiday, household chore, and ice cream topping). Students compared their choices of words to the focus of the essential question, “How can I use multiple methods (FOIL, distributive property, or table method) to multiply binomials?” For example, “Using the table method to multiply binomials is like doing jumping jacks because it is the most challenging for me,” or “Using the table method to multiply binomials is like chocolate chips because it’s the best!” This activity helped students better understand concepts and justify their preferences to set themselves up for success in the future when solving these types of problems. Here is Natty writing a holiday.

In Mrs. Bauer’s P2C Math class, students completed a GIST summary after finishing a lesson on solving special case equations. This activity shows how we are incorporating writing-to-learn strategies into our math lessons to help students explain their understanding.

Social Studies

Students in World History class with Mr. Young used a non-linguistic text in the form of a WWI Battles Map. Students had to label, color code, and identify battle sites on their maps.

Mrs. Wassom-Paul's US History students engaged in multiple AVID-style learning activities as they studied the Great Depression and the New Deal. Through structured note-taking, a collaborative station activity analyzing the causes of the Great Depression, Cornell Notes on President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s “Three Rs” programs (Relief, Recovery, and Reform), a mapping activity tracing the geographic impact of the Depression, and a cause-and-effect connections worksheet, students practice critical thinking, historical analysis, and organization skills while building a deeper understanding of how the federal government responded to the economic crisis. Writing activities included a Quickwrite and Connections Bridge, and will ultimately culminate in the New Deal Research Project as they evaluate New Deal programs in Oregon.

Ms. Toney's English 12 students participated in a Social Media Reflection. They practiced reflective writing as they evaluated their social media habits. The day before, students read an essay called, "Victorians had the Same Concerns about Technology as We Do." This text prompt students to analyze a comparison between Victorian society's technology concerns to modern society's concerns. With that in mind, students began this lesson engaged in a Think-Pair-Share as they wrote short reflective responses on their own social media habits and opinions. Then, students shared a summary of their responses. In the next part of the lesson, students listed ways to use social media in a positive manner. They shared out their lists in a class whiteboard share, where two students called on fellow students as they created the class list. Using the class list, students wrote additional short reflective responses. Finally after completing the reflection activities, students wrote a reflective paragraph responding to the following question: "What concerns do you have about advanced technology?" The goal of this writing activity was for students to evaluate and reflect on their own experiences and opinions of social media in modern times.

Students in Mrs. Banks's 9th grade English were able to conduct a debate based on Dystopian literature. Each student was placed into a group that had to convince the class why their dystopian society was the best-sometimes things got heated...

Her 11th grade English students worked on and completed an Annotated Bibliography. This project consisted of reading literature from 1775 to 1791. Information had to be summarised, MLA style was completed correctly and each of the readings had to have a persuasion paragraph which gave specific information on ethos, pathos and logos. By writing about the powers of persuasion, students were able to better understand how one can be influenced by the words of others.

Here is an example of a student project evaluation in Mr. Horrell's Woods class. Students must complete a write up after each project to evaluate their work in comparison with the original plans.

Students in Mrs. Bailey's class completed a quick write on rainbows in the Waves Unit. The prompt was explain the phenomena of how a rainbow forms. Your answer must include the word 'refraction.' Also include prism, bend(ing), light wave and/or separate.

Students in Ms. Smith's Biology class completed a quick write exit ticket focusing on what they had learned about Mendelian genetics and Punnett squares. The writing activity required them to reflect on the learning in this section of their genetics unit.

In Ms. Danchok's Outdoor Wellness class tested their fishing skills. One student caught his first ever fish at Burns Pond and the other caught the only fish on a very windy day at Chickahominy Reservoir! As a wrap-up writing activity, students wrote out a 20 word GIST about their experience.

Asher Planinz wrote, "I caught my first fish ever at Burns Pond. It was super slimy. I was so excited, I showed everyone."

Students in Mr. Bruck's strength class track their maxes throughout the semester to track progress and achieve their personal goals. This shows students' max for the lift from the start of the semester to the midterm max that they just finished.