AVID, not what it’s cracked up to be

We ALL know what the AVID study skills class is supposed to be.

It sounds very Minnesota nice…

Nobody is arguing that.

However, that is not what is happening in Cook County.

Putting that aside- let’s remember the facts. No matter how good the class is supposed to be, this class is an elective- Not required.

However, ALL kids were automatically put in it.

Nobody signed up for it.

This class started to create chaos for a lot of students- and when parents asked to have their children dropped from the class- they were told they could not.

The parents that pushed the situation were given options. (But were told not to tell anyone so other parents/kids didn’t try to drop the class.)

Throughout the year, the options for kids dropping AVID changed. Then study hall became the only option. Then that study hall became a non-positive environment for AVID dropped kids.

There is so much more to the story than Ann Mershon’s summed up version of what AVID is or the newspapers article of what the class is supposed to be.

It is easy to sit on the sidelines and support something that looks good but neither of them has a child in the school system so are not invested enough to really know what the truth is or what is actually going on.

Talk to parents and kids in this community, the ones that are firsthand dealing with this, then you will get the whole picture…the real story.

Jes Rodne, Grand Marais