[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 154 (Friday, November 18, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2406]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


          RESOLUTION RECOGNIZING THE 25TH ANNIVERSARY OF AVID

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                          HON. SUSAN A. DAVIS

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Friday, November 18, 2005

  Mrs. DAVIS of California. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize a 
tremendous and extremely valuable asset to public education in the 
United States.
  I am referring to the Advancement Via Individual Determination or 
AVID program that began in my hometown of San Diego 25 years ago.
  Since then, it has helped hundreds of thousands of underachieving 
students across the United States learn the study habits and the skills 
needed for college. It has also helped thousands of students excel in 
the core subjects of reading, math, and the sciences.
  Mary Catherine Swanson, a school teacher at San Diego's Clairemont 
High, created AVID in 1980 because she wanted to find a way to help 
students with mediocre academic records.
  What has happened since then is nothing short of amazing.
  AVID has grown from one classroom to 2,200 middle and high schools in 
36 states.
  The program emphasizes individual achievement while teaching new 
study habits. In addition, AVID encourages goal setting and works to 
lift self-expectations and self-esteem in students.
  Nearly 260,000 students have benefited tremendously from these 
ground-breaking teaching methods.
  Amazingly, over 95 percent of those who complete the AVID program 
attend college and nearly all of these students return for their 
sophomore year.
  It is difficult to choose from the thousands of success stories 
produced by AVID. I am inspired each time I hear one of these stories.
  Please allow me to share just a few of these stories with you today.
  Some of you may remember Joanna Hayes for winning Gold in the women's 
100-meter hurdles during the 2004 Summer Olympics in Greece.
  Joanna's teachers remember her for her drive and determination to 
achieve in her classes.
  Earlier in high school, however, Joanna faced a problem. She was a 
promising student athlete and knew she could likely land an athletic 
scholarship at a number of schools around the nation.
  Unfortunately, her grades were low and she did not possess the 
academic credentials to attend her dream school, UCLA.
  Joanna's high school guidance counselor told her about the AVID 
program and how it had helped a number of students greatly improve 
their grades.
  She signed up and her grades began to improve dramatically.
  She attended UCLA and became a world-class athlete attributing a 
great deal of her success to AVID.
  I was also moved by the story of Truong-Son Vinh who arrived in the 
United States when he was 9 years old.
  He fled Saigon just before it fell into the hands of the North 
Vietnamese in 1975. Tragically, his father was killed during the war.
  Truong-Son Vinh's family ended up in San Diego where he found the 
AVID program.
  With the help of AVID, he maintained an ``A'' average and excelled in 
math and the sciences throughout high school.
  He applied the skills and study habits he learned through AVID and 
earned degrees in mechanical engineering and applied math from the 
University of California at San Diego and a master's degree from Cal. 
Tech.
  This was just the beginning for Truong-Son Vinh.
  After college, he went to work for NASA and contributed to the Space 
Shuttle program during the 1980s.
  He later returned to school and earned a Ph.D and an MBA.
  Mr. Speaker, it is stories like Joanna Hayes and Truong-Son Vinh's 
that have inspired me to introduce a resolution recognizing AVID and 
honoring the program on its 25th anniversary.
  I am pleased to have the opportunity to introduce this resolution 
with my friend and colleague from Delaware, Congressman Castle.
  Because of AVID, thousands of students have had the opportunity to 
achieve in our public schools and have had the opportunity to go on to 
college.
  Again, this program has far exceeded anyone's expectations.
  I thank Mary Catherine Swanson for having a vision and working hard 
to implement this vision beginning with one classroom at Clairemont 
High.
  In addition, please allow me to thank the administrators of the AVID 
program for their hard work promoting the program on a national level.
  Also, the work the teachers and tutors do in the AVID program is 
nothing short of amazing. Because of their dedication, AVID has turned 
the lives around of thousands of our young people.
  Finally, I would just like to take a moment to recognize the students 
who had the courage to take on the rigorous academic track required by 
AVID and who had the desire to one day go to college.
  I introduce this resolution today to honor AVID and all it has 
accomplished.
  If we are to eliminate the achievement gap in the United States, I 
believe we need to build upon the programs that have already decreased 
the size of the gap successfully.
  AVID is clearly one of these programs.
  We will also need to turn to AVID and other proven programs already 
showing success in assisting our kids make gains in the areas that our 
nation is lagging far behind. I refer specifically to math and the 
sciences.
  If we are to be competitive in the world economy, we need programs 
such as AVID to help our children excel in math, the sciences, and 
other key programs.

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