Recent Guest Speakers

During the past two weeks our AVID classroom has hosted three different guest speakers who came to share their experiences with the students.

Last week Ms. Monique Paige, 8th grade science teacher, and Mrs. Leann Hooper, a district

technology facilitator, both spoke about their experiences as college

basketball players. Ms. Paige played basketball at the University of Arizona. She shared her experiences with the recruiting process as well as the particular challenges of being both a student and an athlete at a major university. Mrs. Hooper played at East Texas Baptist University

and shared with students why she chose a smaller school instead of a larger university.

Mrs. Knight, our school's librarian, visited this week to talk about different kinds of alphabet books. The AVID students are working on putting together two of these books with a college theme to keep in the front office for visitors to read.

College Students visit AVID

February 3, 2010 12:41 PM

by Rob Temple

College Students visit AVID

Recently two former A.C. New and West Mesquite students visited the 8th grade AVID classes to talk about the transitions from middle school to high school to college. Since the majority of AVID students are the first in their families to attend college, many do not have a clear picture of the academic expectations of not only college but also advanced high school courses. Maggie Paige and Alyssa Jones could speak from direct experience because they had already traveled the paths that the current AVID students will be heading down soon. Maggie is in her first year at The University of North Texas while Alyssa is a freshman at Texas Women's University (which confused some that it's NOT an all-girls school).

Some of the things that the pair highlighted as differences between middle school and high school were:

• higher expectations from teachers including fewer requests for late assignments
• a greater emphasis on self-determination
• classes with older and more mature students
• a faster pace in a bigger place which can lead to a feeling of being "lost" or "just trying to stay afloat"

A few comments about the differences between high school and college were:

• success is completely reliant upon individual determination
• professors expect you to have/do work without reminding you
• so much more freedom it can be tough to adjust
• living on your own can be so fun but takes a lot of responsibility

NASA Engineer Speaks to AVID Classes

October 2, 2009 12:44 PM

by Rob Temple

NASA Engineer Speaks to AVID Classes

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On Friday, October 2nd, the 8th grade AVID classes hosted their first guest speaker of the year. Mr. Alan Joynt, an engineer with NASA spoke to the class about how the things they are learning now are laying the foundation for where they will be able to go in the future. Mr. Joynt

Mr. Joynt is a systems engineer working at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, AL and is currently working on the Ares I rocket. NASA plans on launching this spacecraft in 2020 for the first return to the moon since 1972. Mr. Joynt shared his own journey through college, eventually graduating from Middle Tennessee State University with an engineering degree in 2003, almost 20 years after he started college initially. Students were challenged to never settle for less than their dreams, no matter what bumps come in the road ahead.

During the presentation students got to see a short video outlining NASA's plans for the future moon landing as well as video of an actually shuttle launch. Each student was giving a bag with items from NASA including a mission pin and photos of the last shuttle crew.

For more information on the Ares project, click here.

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