Graves Middle School hosted a Road to College Night on Monday, January 14, for parents and students to learn about the requirements necessary to get into a college or university.
Parents were greeted by Graves’ AVID Coordinator, Dan Honeycut, who shared the purpose of the night.
“We have a lot of students who say, ‘I want to go to UCLA.’ So we want to prepare them so they know how to get there.”
Parents were each given a guide that shows the high school classes that are college requirements and the classes that are suggested for students to take. The suggested classes allow students to be more competitive for highly-sought universities.
The Pioneer High School AVID Coordinator also spoke with parents and explained each requirement and shared about their AVID program. She talked about the extra support it gives students to not only be ready for college but in helping students apply to college and find scholarships.
A Graves Middle School alumni and Pioneer senior, Brandon Smith, then spoke and shared his story with attendees. Having been in AVID since the 7th grade he talked about the extra support that AVID has given him throughout his education.
“It has benefited me very much. The program supplied me with tutors and text books and everything I needed. Anything you need, they supply it for you.”
Brandon currently holds a 4.3 grade point average, has applied to Stanford, UCLA, USC, and Notre Dame and is also in the running for a $20,000 scholarship.
After parents heard from Brandon, Mr. Honeycut spoke about the upcoming Biola field trip. Students will be visiting the university on February 12 and will be taking a campus tour, hearing from a professor about his academic journey, they’ll eat in the cafeteria, and attend a basketball game.
“We want to provide these experiences for students so they can get an idea of what they want their college experience to be like,” Mr. Honeycut shared.
Students will also be taking other university tours to cal states and uc universities.