Supporting District Initiatives for Academic Success

WSVEF provides funding for AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) initiative—$38,374

As part of our 2022 grant awards, the White Salmon Valley Education Foundation was proud to support a school district initiative for a 3-year pilot to bring the AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) program to White Salmon Schools.

Providing staff with the professional development necessary to implement the AVID program is part of a larger district-wide vision to increase rigor and opportunity for all students. This program will help teachers differentiate learning opportunities for the full spectrum of academic achievement and/or learning styles. AVID helps all students do rigorous work and meet or exceed high standards in each content area by developing all students as readers and writers, developing deep content knowledge, teaching content specific strategies for reading, writing, thinking, and talking, and developing habits and behaviors to use knowledge and skills.

Their approach integrates STEM across subject areas to identify, apply and integrate concepts from, within, and across science, technology, engineering, and mathematics to help students understand and solve complex, real-world problems. The goal is to provide educators with the tools and practices they need to help students become STEM literate so that they can apply critical problem-solving skills in a variety of contexts and real-world situations. AVID’s STEM resources encourage students to invent, explore, make and code—learning to communicate their ideas creatively with the world around them.

Learn more about our support of AVID and other STEM programs in our video:

Additional WSVEF grant awards for 2022

Lab equipment for Student Centered Science, $1,936 (HMS)

• hands-on experiences to provide context and help students engage.

• student-conducted labs and investigations

Technology Class Arduino Kits, $1,517 (WPSIS and HMS)

• engaging, hands-on coding and electronics projects that apply engineering and math

• critical thinking, collaborative learning, and problem solving

• bridging the gap between the physical and the digital worlds

Kiln, Pottery Wheel and Professional Development, $10,050 (CHS)

• expanding art offerings for students

• teaching real-world CTE skills that students are eager to learn

• supplement the existing clay equipment allows the expansion of capacity in the art department

Sensory-friendly Classrooms, $7956 (WPSIS, WES)

• tools to help students with their emotional regulation, attention and focus

• support for different learning styles

• Teachers have observed a significant increase in these needs since the COVID-19 school closure.

WSVEF Giving Highlights