Our AVID students display amazing leadship skills in numerous ways during their time at Rolling Meadows High School.  This year's junior class really upped the game on day one when they created a Student Success video to benefit the Class of '25. See their incredible work for yourself by CLICKING HERE!

#LetsGoFurtherTogether

#RMHSAVID

Four years ago, Michel walked into Rolling Meadows High School as a shy and timid freshman, who was unsure of many things. However, the one thing Michel was certain of was that she envisioned a future that would make her and her mom proud. As freshman year ended, her goal-oriented mindset drove her to explore and join AVID in her sophomore year. She will tell you this was a pivotal decision in helping her prepare for a future in college. Surrounded and supported by her AVID peers and team, Michel took on the challenge of stretching her academic skills in the classroom and cultivating self-confidence. She has explored different elective opportunities in education to human services and took advantage of dual credit opportunities as a senior. Outside of the classroom, Michel has worked hard to find a balance between maintaining academic rigor and taking on the responsibility of working part-time. 

Michel is an intelligent, focused and hardworking individual, who has made the best of her time at Rolling Meadows High School, but she also stands out because of her maturity, kindness and persistence. It has been a pleasure to see Michel find her voice! Michel, you made your AVID family proud, both in and out of the classroom. You will be missed, but even greater adventures and success are yet to follow in the fall at Harper College as you pursue a career in Forensic Science.

 ¡Felicitaciones a Michel Vega, ganadora de RMHS del Premio a la Excelencia Bilingüe!

 Hace cuatro años, Michel ingresó a Rolling Meadows High School como un estudiante de primer año tímida que no estaba segura de muchas cosas. Sin embargo, de lo único que estaba segura Michel era de que imaginaba un futuro que los enorgullecería a ella y a su madre. Cuando terminó el primer año, su mentalidad orientada a objetivos la llevó a explorar y unirse a AVID en su segundo año. Ella le dirá que esta fue una decisión fundamental para ayudarla a prepararse para un futuro en la universidad. Rodeada y apoyada por sus compañeros y equipo de AVID, Michel asumió el desafío de desarrollar sus habilidades académicas en el aula y cultivar la confianza en sí misma. Ella ha explorado diferentes oportunidades electivas en educación para servicios humanos y aprovechó las oportunidades de crédito dual en su último año. Fuera del aula, Michel ha trabajado duro para encontrar un equilibrio entre mantener el rigor académico y asumir la responsabilidad de trabajar a tiempo parcial.

Michel es una persona inteligente, enfocada y trabajadora, que ha aprovechado al máximo su tiempo en Rolling Meadows High School, pero también se destaca por su madurez, amabilidad y perseverancia. ¡Ha sido un placer ver a Michel encontrar su voz! Michel, hiciste sentir orgullosa a tu familia AVID, tanto dentro como fuera del aula. Se le extrañará, pero aún le esperan aventuras y éxitos aún mayores en el otoño en Harper College mientras sigue una carrera en Ciencias Forenses.

Our AVID 4 class recently cooked up something really incredible: the first ever RMHS AVID Cookbook featuring: Meals Under $5, Meals Under $10, 3 Ingredients and a Microwave, and Eatin' Fancy sections. Filled with college-friendly and budget-friendly submissions from our amazing AVID seniors, this book is sure to have something for everyone.  From our AVID home to yours. Bon Appetit!

AVID Class of '21 Cookbook

The AVID Program is proud to announce that our very own Itzel De La Torre was awarded a full academic scholarship to Roosevelt University, Chicago.  This scholarship covers full tuition for all four years of college.  Way to go, Itzel!

During the month of February, the AVID program hit the (virtual) road to Akron, Ohio to visit The University of Akron and then trekked down south (virtually) to Springfield, Missouri to visit Missouri State University.  

The University of Akron is six hours east of Rolling Meadows, in the heart of Ohio's fifth largest city.  It is a public university serving around 17,000 students.  Akron is the hometown of LeBron James, the Smuckers corporation, and Goodyear tires.  This fact opens up a lot of possibilities for business majors and education majors, as U of Akron students are able to train at Le Bron's school in the city. After scholarships are applies, this school rings in at around $24,000 a year for out of state students (all in, living on campus)

Missouri State University is 8 hours southwest of Rolling Meadows, in the Ozarks.  Nestled in Missouri's third largest city, MSU offers the best of the North and South. Home to 24,000 students, MSU is known for their education, psychology, business, theater, and nursing programs.  Boasting a 22:1 student to faculty ratio and a variety of academic supports, MSU is an attractive option, ringing in at around $18,000 a year all in with scholarships and living on campus.    

Each school had its own vibe and offered interesting options for our kids who want to spread their wings a little in an affordable manner. 

On Tuesday, February 16th, we experienced a couple of firsts in the RMHS AVID program.  First, we had our very first Remote Learning Day, formerly known as a snow day.  For students throughout the Chicagoland area, it was yet another thing that had shifted in their lives in the past year.  However, being online remotely this day enabled another first, the RMHS AVID Program's first ever student-led presentation on Black History Month.  

A. Riles (Class of '22) and J. Golden (Class of '21) sought out an opportunity to present.  After researching, compiling a Google Slide Show, determining who their audience would be (AVID students from all levels of our program), and booking a date, the (Zoom) stage was set for these incredible students to rise as academic leaders.

Their thoughtful presentation covered some of the lesser known Black leaders throughout history such as Yaa Asantewaa, explained the origins of Black History Month, and beautifully expressed why their audience should consider supporting Black owned businesses.  It was a thoughtful and enlightening symposium. 

AVID, like most things in education, is an acronym.  It stands for Advancement Via Individual Determination.  The students who apply, interview, and are accepted into the program are go-getters with big dreams.  The AVID program helps to support these goal-oriented students in many ways, including helping students to find their voices and rise to become leaders.  These two students surely exemplify what it means to be a leader and demonstrated outstanding determination in their pursuit to teach their fellow Mustangs more about Black History Month.  The RMHS AVID family is exceedingly proud of their accomplishments.

On Friday, January 29, 2021, our AVID classes took a (virtual) trip to Elmhurst Univerity.  Nestled just about 20 minutes south of Rolling Meadows, Elmhurst University's close proxemity offeres students the option to live at home and commute to this exceptional small, private liberal arts school or to move onto campus to enjoy the full college experience.  The University boasts a picturesque setting, with small classes taught by professors who truly care about their students.  With exceptional program offerings in Nursing, Psychology, Education, and more, Elmhurst is a great option for students who desire to have more of a small college experience.  Unique to Elmhurst is its J Term which occure in January.  This optional term allows students to particpate in specialized classes or short study abroad opportunities across the globe.  Many of our students could envision becoming a future Bluejay, and Rolling Meadows High School has a lot of EU's alumni teaching in its classrooms.  Wondering what our next stop is on our college tour? The University of Akron in Ohio is loaded into our GPS!  Stay tuned for more on that next week. 

As we near the one millionth day, er uh hmmm we mean the nearly 300th day, of pandemic life, it is not difficult to see fatigue.  Zoom calls has lost their novelty. School requires students to truly engage and be active learners largely while in their homes and surrounded by other distractions.  It has been a challenging year to say the least.

However, when life gets tough, leaders emerge.  We are seeing more and more of our AVID students rise up to these leadership roles, and we could not be more proud of them.  From volunteering to help their fellow classmates get caught up in chemistry class or AVID class, to signing up to mentor underclassmen who are struggling with Zoom school, to finding ways to brighten up Zoom calls, to helping out in incredibly ways in their homes and community, to rising up to speak out about social justice and equality our AVID students are rising up to the call. 

We would like to give a special shoutout to Itzel De La Torre, Monserrat Carmona, Angie Rosas, Kassandra Gonzalez, German Melo, Sasha Segura, Jaylon Golden, Amoni Riles, Crispin Lagunas, and Tommy Pinchon for all of the big and little ways you have stepped up for yourself, your AVID family, your biological family, and your Mustang family in the past few months.  We are honored to have you represent our AVID program!

When life hands you a pandemic, we find new ways to engage our AVID students.  In a normal school year, we try to get all of our AVID students onto college campuses to better envision what their futures might look like.  We had to get creative with college trips this year, and have set up a series of virtual field trips with a variety of colleges. 

Our first "trip" was to Springfield, Illinois as we learned about the University of Illinois in Springfield.  College Rep, Aaron Boettcher, hosted all 124 of our AVID students in a Zoom during Seminar and showed us all that this affordable and door-opening school could provide for our students.  

With tuition, room and board, and fees ringing up around $22,000 a year, UIS is an incredibly affordable option with the generous merit scholarships they offer and if students are awarded the Map and Pell grants for need. Speaking of the scholarships, if a student has an unweighted GPA of 3.0, he or she automatically received money to attend UIS.  No SAT score is needed. 

If you are thinking of majoring in Nursing, UIS is an excellent choice.  It houses the UIC Nursing Program, which is number one in the state, on its campus. If Cybersecurity is more your speed, UIS has one of the most solid programs for this in the country.  Should you be interested in law or criminal justice, UIS is in our state's capitol and has unique opportunities to be involved based on its location. 

All in all, UIS is a great option for many reasons.  If you would like to know more, please reach out to Ms. Fisher, our College and Career Counselor, at kara.fisher@d214.org to learn more!

Stay tuned to learn about our next trip: Elmhurst University on 1/29/21.   

Over the summer the RMHS AVID program asked Kevin Mueller, a veteran art and physical education teacher from District 214, to design a logo for our program. He graciously produced three different designs for us. AVID Site Team Members and Students then voted on the designs. In an overwhelming majority, our program selected the following design...

Thank you, Mr. Mueller, for the the wonderful options and for helping us to capture the RMHS AVID spirit in an image!

The AVID seniors have been making the most of these challenging times, one seminar at a time! Each student signed up for a day to entertain their entire Seminar, on Zoom, for about 5-10 minutes. This is way easier said than done, but the senior AVID students have been doing an OUTSTANDING job. Mr. Bourn reports that the class has had everything from weather reports to a live performance of a Tasha Cobbs song to a met and greet with a student's dogs to listening to some of the latest Latin Hits with DJ Fátima (Bad Bunny anyone?). Most recently, Crispin inspired the class to be better global citizens by being aware of past and present mistreatment of people based on their religion. This AVID Seminar is proving that together we'll get through this strange start to the year, and we will all come out better on the other side thanks to our AVID family!

*Seminar is like homeroom and study hall all rolled into one. Every student at RMHS has Seminar during 6th block. Students stay with their Seminar teacher and class during all four years of high school.

Our seniors have worked incredibly hard during their time in high school to excel in classes and give their all to the community. Their hard work is being recognized by eighteen different colleges and universities across the country in the form of merit scholarships. Money has been offered by:
Arizona State University
Aurora University
Concordia University, River Forest
De Paul University
Eastern Illinois University
Elmhurst College
Illinois State University
Iowa Wesleyan University
Lake Forest University
MacMurry College
Northern Arizona University
North Central University
North Park University
Roosevelt University
Southern Illinois University in Edwardsville
University of Arizona
University of Illinois in Springfield​
​As of November 20, 2019, the AVID Graduating Class of 2020 has been offered nearly $1.3 million dollars in merit money. This amount is still growing as we wait for more acceptances and scholarship offers to roll in.

For the second consecutive year, our AVID seniors have participated in an Introduction to Philosophy course run by National Louis University. One day during each week of third quarter, students learn major philosophical principles from a NLU professor. Students learn about such things as the Theory of Forms, the Allegory of the Cave, the Golden Mean, Kantianism/Deontology, and Utilitarianism and engage in meaningful discussions about how these ideas can be applied to modern day issues. This college-level course is one of the many ways that we prepare our students to thrive in their next steps with education after high school.

Our current senior class has been hard at work filling out college applications, completing the FAFSA, and applying for scholarships, and their college acceptances are beginning to roll in. Students learn about colleges throughout their AVID experience and have the opportunity to visit many college campuses throughout their time in high school. Our senior class has applied to over 40 different colleges and universities throughout many states.

Our AVID seniors organized and ran a fundraiser in December 2019 that provided RMHS students and staff with the ability to send a candy treat and short note to their friends. All proceeds earned went to scholarship funding for this year's senior class. The students organized, promoted, ran, and debriefed about their experiences with this endeavor.

This year, AVID, hosted the very first ever Boo Bash for the Rolling Meadows Community. This Halloween-themed event asked for donations at the door and provided participants with an afternoon of games, activities, and crafts offered up by many clubs and groups from Rolling Meadows High School. Our costumed attendees trick or treated from booth to booth, stopped to get their faces painted, enjoyed spooky story time, and delighted in the fun things to do. It was a wonderful way to spend an October afternoon.

Many of our outstanding senior AVID students were recognized by the faculty at Rolling Meadows High School for their hard work and dedication and were nominated for the 2019-2020 Homecoming Court. From the nominees, two seniors made it through to the final court, and one of our students was crowned Homecoming King.

Rolling Meadows High School has graduated five senior AVID classes since beginning the AVID program nine years ago, with our first graduating class set to enter the work force this year. Our AVID alumni have traveled near and far to obtain their college degrees. By clicking on the points on the interactive map to the left, you can see where our AVID alumni have been pursuing higher education.

On their campuses and in their work places, our AVID alumni have proven to be competent and driven individuals who excel in leadership positions. From interning with ESPN and financial institutions to serving as admissions representatives at their chosen schools and being AVID tutors (among many other exciting things!), our alumni are making their marks on the world.

Many of our students have worked incredibly hard to earn full ride scholarships to their chosen schools, making their college dreams that much more attainable.