Latest / The Recess-An Inside Look at the Auburn School District / Episode #22-Corrie Agnew, Middle School AVID teacher

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Episode #22-Corrie Agnew, Middle School AVID teacher · The Recess-An Inside Look at the Auburn School District

• 0:15
  SPEAKER_01: Hello and welcome to the Recess Podcast.
• 0:18
  SPEAKER_01: I'm your host, Dr.
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_01: Alan Spicciotti, the proud superintendent of the Auburn School District.
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_01: The Recess is an opportunity for me to tell stories of some of the people and programs I get to see and meet around the district because we have some incredible things happening.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_01: And a lot of them, um, I like to say they're behind the scenes, or even if they're in schools.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_01: You might be a parent with a child at elementary school and not know what's happening in middle school or you know, in high school, one end of the town.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_01: We have a great program elsewhere.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_01: We have a lot of folks who work support roles.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_01: We've tried to feature, you know, our maintenance and operations and just people doing great work around the district.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_01: One of those programs that I reference is the Avid program, which is a program we added several years ago and has made an incredible difference for our students in the Auburn School District.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, so we're gonna learn more about Avid, and we're gonna do that with a teacher from Cascade Middle School.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_01: So I'd like to welcome at this time Corey Agnew, who is the Avid teacher at Cascade Middle School.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_01: Welcome, Corey.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_01: And we're so glad to have you and uh to tell this story because I think it's really one of the success stories of the Auburn School District in recent years and building on some other success stories that we have.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_01: But uh we're just really proud of the work that all of our avid teachers have done to get this opportunity in front of kids.
• 1:53
  SPEAKER_00: So thank you.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_01: You ready to go?
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_01: I am.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_01: All right.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_01: Uh before we hear about Avid, we're gonna ask the question we ask all of my guests.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_01: Who is your favorite teacher?
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_01: And tell us why.
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_00: Oh.
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_00: As a teacher, I get asked this question, you know, fairly often, and I have a very unconventional response.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I did not have a favorite teacher when I was a student.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_00: As a kid, I didn't enjoy school.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_00: I didn't ever see myself being a teacher, and I know that's kind of starting off very negative, but I would say that my favorite teachers were my children's teachers because that is who inspired me to want to be in a classroom.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I went to a private Catholic school growing up, and I had a very structured classroom, lots of college prep, but not a lot of relationship building at all.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_00: And so I didn't love being in school.
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_00: So uh never imagined that I would want to someday be a teacher until I had my own children, and of course I volunteered in their classrooms and realized that school now looked nothing like school when I was a student and realized that this was this was what I was supposed to do.
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_00: So um shout out to the Enum Claw School District for inspiring me to go back to college as an adult and become a teacher.
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_01: That's a really powerful story.
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, if you don't mind me asking, how old were you when you decided you want to be a teacher?
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I don't mind.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_00: Let's see.
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_00: I was my youngest was in kindergarten, so I was 35 when I decided that I wanted to be a teacher.
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_01: Wow, that's really cool.
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_01: One thing I'm proud of in the district is we have I I would more often refer to second career people, and you haven't mentioned if if you worked outside the home i in that period of time.
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_01: Um but it's it's really helpful, I think, to have a balance of new teachers straight out of college and you get all that energy and youth, and you know, they they were just in school, so they have that frame of reference.
• 4:03
  SPEAKER_01: Um but to have some teachers join us who have more life experience and bring a certain maturity and wisdom and uh and a lot if they were military or came out of another career or whatever the background was, bring that with them.
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_01: Uh or just have a different purpose and appreciation.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_01: I think a lot of people like you know, you're in high school, what are you gonna do?
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_01: I guess I'll be a teacher, you go to education school, get a job, and boom, you're a teacher, and and uh y you very specifically chose this profession, this career.
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_01: Uh so that's really cool.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I knew when I decided to be a teacher, I knew exactly what I was getting into, and I also knew that I wanted to go straight to middle school.
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_00: I have never aspired to teach elementary or high school.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_00: I knew middle school was my jam.
• 4:53
  SPEAKER_00: I like the that age group, I like where their brains are at, I like the the what potential you have to really impact their lives.
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_00: Um it's just it's the perfect fit for me, and I knew exactly where I was going.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_01: That's fantastic.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_01: So uh we love our middle school teachers.
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_01: Uh it is it is a very pivotal time in students' lives.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, one of my origin stories is talking about my middle school band director, and uh he really made me think differently about myself as a student and as a musician, and it really influenced the trajectory of my life and and what I chose to do.
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_01: And you have that power, and then the middle school kids they just have so much energy and uh they're just really fun, I think, and also challenging, no doubt.
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and I you know, I've lived both sides of that, but uh I think our middle school educators are amazing, and that's so cool you made that choice.
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_01: Did you start your your teaching career in Auburn?
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_00: I didn't.
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_00: I did two years in the Enum Claw School District.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_00: I had done my student teaching there.
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_00: I rolled right into a job there.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_00: Uh I think that was 2008, and there was the big budget cuts, and I got riffed out of Enum Claw.
• 6:13
  SPEAKER_00: Um and so I subbed for a year, uh, specifically in middle schools, and then a job came open at Cascade for a science teacher, and that was that was what I were right where I wanted to be.
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_00: Um so I interviewed for that, and I I knew the minute I walked out of that interview that that Cascade was my home.
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_00: And I just crossed my fingers and said, Isaiah better call me.
• 6:39
  SPEAKER_00: And he did, of course, and it's I've never looked back.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_00: I knew exactly where I wanted to be.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_01: So that is fantastic.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_01: That that's uh a lucky story for us.
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_01: Those times are really hard when uh unfortunately the way it works generally is uh some of your least experienced newest people end up on that reduction enforced list, and you just hate, you know, my earlier my career I've been in that situation as an as an administrator and just hate to lose really exciting, talented new people in the organization.
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_01: Um but the flip side is somebody's gonna be a winner and pick them up, and we're glad that that worked out for the Auburn School District and for Cascade Middle School.
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_01: So you've been at Cascade your uh entire career after you left Enum Claw.
• 7:32
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 7:32
  SPEAKER_01: What is your teaching schedule today?
• 7:35
  SPEAKER_00: Right now I teach um the Avid Elective exclusively.
• 7:38
  SPEAKER_00: So and and then I'm part of the site coordinator team as well.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_00: So I help make avid a school-wide um tool, and then I also teach the Avid Elective to seventh and eighth graders.
• 7:50
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, great.
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_01: So you taught science at Cascade, and there was probably a gradual buildup to the point where your your schedule was all avid.
• 7:59
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 7:59
  SPEAKER_01: All right, so uh we're gonna we're gonna tackle Avid right now because I know I've used that acronym uh and we have a range of folks who listen to this uh podcast, many of whom maybe they've heard of it, maybe they haven't.
• 8:14
  SPEAKER_01: So uh let's just kind of start with the basics and and for the audience that may not be familiar with the Avid program, what is AVID?
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_00: So I know that a lot of people don't know what Avid is.
• 8:26
  SPEAKER_00: I didn't know what it was until it came to Auburn as well.
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_00: And I watched Avid from the peripheral, it was we were trying to go school-wide for one year and went, oh my gosh, I have got to get into this classroom.
• 8:38
  SPEAKER_00: I want to be part of this so badly.
• 8:41
  SPEAKER_00: And uh it was a a perfect fit.
• 8:44
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, I just it's it's everything I think a classroom should be.
• 8:48
  SPEAKER_00: So um the Avid Elective is um it's a nationwide or an international even program that's geared towards um students who have the a strong desire to um continue working after their high school career, either in college or trade school, or they want to go into an apprenticeship or something like that, but they have um the determination and the drive to work hard.
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_00: They also really want to push themselves and take rigorous classes and get the most out of their um schooling that they can.
• 9:22
  SPEAKER_01: Um I know one way that Avid was introduced to me many years ago, and I actually I'm gonna ask you if this is a current uh thing with Avid, is that Avid sees itself as a way to lift up and support students who are uh I'm just gonna say B and C students.
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_01: I think our audience might know what I'm talking about.
• 9:47
  SPEAKER_01: Um we have great supports and options for kids who are already very successful and in honors and AP and and that kind of uh coursework.
• 10:01
  SPEAKER_01: We have great support for multilingual learners and students with disabilities, and we have our Title I program.
• 10:08
  SPEAKER_01: Um I know there was definitely a time in education where uh that middle was missing that level of focus support.
• 10:17
  SPEAKER_01: Uh so is that something the Avid program still talks about?
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_01: And is that something you see at Cascade?
• 10:22
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, quite a bit.
• 10:22
  SPEAKER_00: Actually, we refer to them as the academic middle.
• 10:25
  SPEAKER_00: And so I would uh the way I explain it to the students is Avid is a program to help you be the student you have the potential to be.
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_00: Avid teaches students how to be better students, but it also lifts up students who maybe are falling through the cracks or who are slightly underperforming because even though they have the potential to be A and B students, maybe they don't have the tools or the skills, maybe they don't have relationships or they don't have organizational skills, maybe they're not as confident speaking to their teacher and asking for help.
• 10:58
  SPEAKER_00: So it builds up those academic skills so that they can be more successful in all of their classes.
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_01: Perfect.
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_01: So Avid has a school-wide component and the elective.
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_01: And when you say you teach Avid all day, you're talking about the elective class.
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_01: Correct.
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_01: Um so could you explain to the audience what both of those aspects of Avid are?
• 11:20
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 11:21
  SPEAKER_00: So Avid School-Wide is trying to implement Avid strategies.
• 11:27
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, we call them Wicker strategies.
• 11:29
  SPEAKER_00: So we work on writing, inquiry, collaboration, organization, and reading.
• 11:34
  SPEAKER_00: And so we bolster those skills in all of the students' classes.
• 11:39
  SPEAKER_00: So our teachers at Cascade are really great about incorporating what we consider really great teaching practices into their core classes.
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_00: So you may have a collaborative study group in science before a test.
• 11:53
  SPEAKER_00: That's an avid strategy.
• 11:54
  SPEAKER_00: You may check your binder for organization and make sure that you have all the materials you need to be successful during your Rise class.
• 12:02
  SPEAKER_00: You may work on academic vocabulary in your math class.
• 12:07
  SPEAKER_00: So we're building all of those skills throughout all of the core classes.
• 12:12
  SPEAKER_00: The Avid Elective is an elective class.
• 12:15
  SPEAKER_00: So the students opt into that class, they choose it.
• 12:18
  SPEAKER_00: And that is for students who want a more intensive academic skill opportunity.
• 12:24
  SPEAKER_00: They work on collaborative conversations, they work on uh what we call Socratic seminars or philosophic chairs, which are academic conversations.
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_00: They work in study groups called tutorials.
• 12:37
  SPEAKER_00: Um, they're very prepared for their other classes through the Avid elective.
• 12:42
  SPEAKER_01: The school board and I have been invited to Avid student panels, which are held later in the year.
• 12:49
  SPEAKER_01: Um it's an opportunity, obviously, for the students in the program to to talk about the program, but I think it's really a mostly a public speaking opportunity for them.
• 12:59
  SPEAKER_01: And our students, without exception, have been excellent.
• 13:03
  SPEAKER_01: Probably some more shy than others, but uh they're all so thoughtful and it's really compelling and um it's it's interesting.
• 13:14
  SPEAKER_01: We haven't actually defined the acronym, uh sure.
• 13:19
  SPEAKER_01: Which is advancement via individual determination.
• 13:23
  SPEAKER_01: And my aha hearing these panels is although there is an individual piece to this and there's certainly a lot of accountability and responsibility of the students, almost every single student talks about the community of learners and the way that uh students can help each other and support each other and they just raise a bar for each other.
• 13:50
  SPEAKER_01: So I was wondering if you could help explain the relationships among the the students in the class and uh just the kind of community that that avid elective builds.
• 14:04
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 14:04
  SPEAKER_00: It's probably my my favorite thing about the class.
• 14:08
  SPEAKER_00: Um, the avid elective curriculum includes a social emotional component that's really strong and it encourages students to take risks, but also to get to know each other and build a community of trust within that class.
• 14:24
  SPEAKER_00: At the high school level, students get to stay with that same cohort of students for four years.
• 14:29
  SPEAKER_00: So by the time they're in seniors in high school, they are a family.
• 14:34
  SPEAKER_00: And we have a similar dynamic in the middle school as well.
• 14:38
  SPEAKER_00: The kids will refer to that class as a family because they're they're taking risks together, they're learning together, they're supporting each other, but that's so critical to their success in Avid because we are asking them to do hard things, and they are really good about supporting each other and making sure that everybody feels like it's a safe space to take those risks.
• 15:02
  SPEAKER_00: It surprises me sometimes how often students bring that up as the most important or the most memorable thing about the Avid elective is that feeling of community and sense of belonging in that avid classroom.
• 15:18
  SPEAKER_01: Speaking of community, I've also been struck uh by how many parents understand the program, uh have come to advocate for the program.
• 15:30
  SPEAKER_01: I had the chance this fall to attend Cascade's Avid Family Night uh with Director Holman from the school board.
• 15:38
  SPEAKER_01: And it was so great.
• 15:40
  SPEAKER_01: There were probably 300 people there.
• 15:43
  SPEAKER_01: Um there were two student uh it was short, but two student panels, one a group of middle school students talking about their experience in Avid at Cascade, another group of high school students talking about their experience in Avid.
• 15:57
  SPEAKER_01: Um there were poster presentations on college and career opportunities.
• 16:05
  SPEAKER_01: Um and it was just it was a really nice community event, a tremendous turnout.
• 16:10
  SPEAKER_01: Um, what do you hear from parents about the program and just how they value it?
• 16:16
  SPEAKER_00: I think that parents really like that Avid supports their student in the classroom, um, being the best student that they can.
• 16:24
  SPEAKER_00: The Avid students at Cascade are leaders in all of their classes.
• 16:28
  SPEAKER_00: They are leaders on campus, they're seen as very respected by the teachers, by the other students.
• 16:36
  SPEAKER_00: So I think that parents overall want their child to be seen that way.
• 16:40
  SPEAKER_00: They want their child to be respected and they want their child to be looked up to.
• 16:44
  SPEAKER_00: They also like the college-going atmosphere.
• 16:47
  SPEAKER_00: We teach um a lot about what the opportunity knowledge is for students.
• 16:52
  SPEAKER_00: So we want them to know not only what they can do post-high school, that they can go to university, that they can go to a two-year college or a trade school, but also what they need to do to get there, what a GPA means, what a scholarship is versus a grant, what is going to be expected of them for extracurricular activities or community service.
• 17:14
  SPEAKER_00: So the avid kids go into the high school ready to be career or career college bound.
• 17:20
  SPEAKER_00: And so I think that as a parent, I would really appreciate that kind of support from the school, and I think that our parents appreciate it as well.
• 17:29
  SPEAKER_01: I I think 100% you explained that very well, the kind of feedback that I hear.
• 17:34
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, I know Cascade has the Avid program is I want to say maybe 35 years old nationally.
• 17:41
  SPEAKER_01: It's been around for a long time now.
• 17:44
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but a more recent development in the Avid organization is AvidExcel, which is for uh our multilingual learners who participate.
• 17:56
  SPEAKER_01: Could you just share a little bit about what the Avid Excel class is?
• 18:00
  SPEAKER_00: Sure.
• 18:00
  SPEAKER_00: I am um I'm really I'm intrigued by the Avid Excel class.
• 18:03
  SPEAKER_00: I'm kind of a little envious that I don't have a section of Avid Excel.
• 18:07
  SPEAKER_00: Avid Excel is all the great things about Avid, the organization skills, the student self-advocacy, um, but it is very heavily centered on reading and writing, specifically to help build language acquisition for our ML students.
• 18:22
  SPEAKER_00: So they will do an avid Excel class through middle school.
• 18:26
  SPEAKER_00: And ideally, when they exit eighth grade, they can move directly into the Avid Excel or Avid elective class in high school.
• 18:34
  SPEAKER_00: So they should be able to transition right into Avid.
• 18:36
  SPEAKER_00: But in the middle school level, they're getting extra support in their English language acquisition while they're learning all of these other avid skills at the same time.
• 18:46
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
• 18:47
  SPEAKER_01: That's really important in the Auburn School District.
• 18:50
  SPEAKER_01: We I'm absolutely bound and determined to be a great district for all of our students and families, not just some.
• 18:57
  SPEAKER_01: Um one thing our audience may not know 31% of our students are currently enrolled in multilingual program services means that they qualify, they have an active need.
• 19:09
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, then we have other students who are formerly in in the ML program but have qualified to exit.
• 19:17
  SPEAKER_01: And we actually just learned that forty-seven percent of our households uh have a language other than English spoken in the household.
• 19:28
  SPEAKER_01: So that that need for uh language diversity and support is big.
• 19:33
  SPEAKER_01: We want to uh I think Avid's mission is to bring out the potential in every student.
• 19:40
  SPEAKER_01: And this is just another way that the program is doing it.
• 19:43
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm excited that uh Cascade has Avid Excel and uh that that we're taking that program on in our district as well as the core avid program.
• 19:53
  SPEAKER_01: Um and we've started to have schools recognized as help me with the language here, avid is it uh site of distinction.
• 20:03
  SPEAKER_01: Site of distinction.
• 20:06
  SPEAKER_01: Very proud of that.
• 20:06
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so what what does that mean?
• 20:08
  SPEAKER_01: That that sounds very uh wonderful.
• 20:11
  SPEAKER_00: It is pretty wonderful.
• 20:12
  SPEAKER_00: So um as an avid school, and we're we're we get graded, uh rated maybe is a better word.
• 20:20
  SPEAKER_00: We get rated on a rubric that um where we can show how many school-wide strategies we're using at Cascade.
• 20:29
  SPEAKER_00: And our goal is you know for all of our teachers to be using avid strategies because they are just great teaching.
• 20:34
  SPEAKER_00: Um and then we keep track of it and we submit our findings, and then Avid gives us a rating.
• 20:41
  SPEAKER_00: And the Avid Center has determined that Cascade is a site of distinction because we have Avid strategies being presented and being utilized in all of our content areas.
• 20:53
  SPEAKER_00: So even if a student isn't in the Avid Excel, they're still learning a lot of Avid skills and a lot of Avid strategies.
• 21:00
  SPEAKER_00: Um the things that we get scored on are whether or not we're using collaborative structures in our classrooms, if the kids are talking to each other.
• 21:07
  SPEAKER_00: That includes our ML students.
• 21:09
  SPEAKER_00: So big goal is to get students whose first language isn't English to be using English, academic language in their classes.
• 21:18
  SPEAKER_00: So that's huge.
• 21:19
  SPEAKER_00: Um that's it that helps everybody.
• 21:21
  SPEAKER_00: Um we also uh want all of our students to have all the tools they need to be successful, so organization and um reading skills.
• 21:30
  SPEAKER_00: So we get graded on all of those, and then based on our score, we get um we get a fancy title.
• 21:36
  SPEAKER_01: So in addition, in addition to being a school distinction, I understand Cascade will be a showcase school this year.
• 21:44
  SPEAKER_01: What is that?
• 21:45
  SPEAKER_00: So Cascade's Avid program has seen so much success and growth.
• 21:50
  SPEAKER_00: We've um increased the number of Avid sections for both Avid Excel and for the Avid Elective, and the Avid Center has noticed how well.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_00: We're doing with Avid and how well our students are doing.
• 22:02
  SPEAKER_00: So they have asked to run a showcase at our school, which means that they will invite teachers from other districts who are interested in learning about Avid, and they will invite them to cascade so that they can see our Avid program in action.
• 22:17
  SPEAKER_00: And we're very proud of that and very excited to be able to share Avid with other districts who may be considering adding Avid or who are looking to grow their program.
• 22:26
  SPEAKER_01: That's really exciting.
• 22:28
  SPEAKER_01: We have benefited so much from other districts and other schools that are doing great work.
• 22:33
  SPEAKER_01: I know a few years ago we went up to, I think, Mount Vernon to look at Avid Excel.
• 22:37
  SPEAKER_00: And Tacoma.
• 22:38
  SPEAKER_01: And Tacoma, good.
• 22:39
  SPEAKER_01: So we're happy to have others uh come and see what we figured out and we'll build on each other.
• 22:45
  unknown: Yeah.
• 22:46
  SPEAKER_01: Well, congratulations.
• 22:47
  SPEAKER_01: Uh I know you're not the only Auburn school now that's achieved that status.
• 22:52
  SPEAKER_01: We get great feedback from the Avid organization.
• 22:55
  SPEAKER_01: Um our history is maybe a little different than some districts.
• 22:59
  SPEAKER_01: We certainly aren't aren't the first district in the area to have Avid other districts to have programs.
• 23:05
  SPEAKER_01: Um but I think what's unique is that we uh went in district wide in a very systematic way of starting uh with all four schools uh with the backing of a Gear Up grant, which is a federal grant to help you know expand access to post-secondary opportunities and rolled up from middle school one grade level at a time till high school.
• 23:34
  SPEAKER_01: So it's to a point where uh last year we had our avid seniors graduate for the first time, and that was oh my gosh, so inspiring to hear many of those stories.
• 23:45
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, just some incredible kids and and uh how they benefited from the program.
• 23:51
  SPEAKER_01: We also see it in our data, um, and again, this is a little bit of shout out to the high school avid teachers and then the the teachers who receive Avid program students in all of our advanced placement programs.
• 24:04
  SPEAKER_01: Uh it's it's really one of the best things we have going right now.
• 24:09
  SPEAKER_01: Um for example, uh I just learned that last year we had more students earn they call it earn a qualifying score, which means a three, four, or five, uh, which is typically accepted for college credit.
• 24:24
  SPEAKER_01: We have more students earn that qualifying score last year than took the exam three years before.
• 24:33
  SPEAKER_01: And this is one of those cases where participation is up, um diverse participation is up, and the scores are up, and not just getting threes, but also our numbers of fours and five, which are almost guaranteed college credit, uh, those are up as well.
• 24:51
  SPEAKER_01: So uh there's some great work happening in our AP programs and and new classes that we offer, but I think Avid has just given a foundation, and so many students uh who I would reason to believe would not have taken a higher level course are because of the support encouragement that they receive in Avid.
• 25:13
  SPEAKER_00: I love that.
• 25:13
  SPEAKER_00: I love knowing that they are going into high school knowing that they can take rigorous classes and they can do hard things and that they have the ability to like work through obstacles and persist.
• 25:25
  SPEAKER_00: And I love that.
• 25:26
  SPEAKER_00: I think that's fantastic.
• 25:28
  unknown: I think that's fantastic.
• 25:30
  SPEAKER_01: Well, so that's one of our district success stories as a as a teacher and a uh school level site coordinator.
• 25:38
  SPEAKER_01: What are some success stories that you could share with us?
• 25:43
  SPEAKER_00: I have I feel like I have so many, but they're all um, I don't know.
• 25:47
  SPEAKER_00: So I feel like they're they're small, but they're big to me.
• 25:51
  SPEAKER_00: I have so many students that um oh they're in my avid class or they were in my science class and they're they're surly or they're they're disgruntled about it, and they they will tell me why do we have to do TRFs and why do we have to, I don't know why we have to process our notes.
• 26:08
  SPEAKER_00: That seems like an unnecessary step.
• 26:11
  SPEAKER_00: Um I would say the success is when I hear back from them.
• 26:14
  SPEAKER_00: Um years later, um, I just got an email today from a sophomore who just wanted me to know that he was thinking about me when somebody asked him who has impacted your education.
• 26:27
  SPEAKER_00: And he said that my name popped into his head.
• 26:30
  SPEAKER_00: Um I love when I hear back from my former students who are moving on to whatever career they said they were gonna pick in middle school, or maybe they're doing something completely different.
• 26:41
  SPEAKER_00: But to have my kids um notify me, oh Mrs.
• 26:45
  SPEAKER_00: Agno, I got I got a scholarship.
• 26:47
  SPEAKER_00: I did it, I got a scholarship, or um, I'm taking AP classes.
• 26:51
  SPEAKER_00: Can you believe it?
• 26:51
  SPEAKER_00: Me, I'm taking AP classes, and they're they're so proud and they're including me in these stories, and I'm just uh I just feel really honored that they even consider me because it was their work, but I it's their success, but I just like that they include me in it and I feel proud of them.
• 27:08
  SPEAKER_01: Well, that gives me chills.
• 27:10
  SPEAKER_01: And I think any teacher can relate to the idea that you know, in the moment it seems like maybe the kids aren't paying attention, and then years later they'll tell you, Oh, remember when you said this?
• 27:21
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 27:22
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, but I would imagine, especially as a middle school teacher, like you can see that potential, but uh so much development happens by high school to have that student come back.
• 27:32
  SPEAKER_01: That's really cool.
• 27:33
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and often it's a big change in attitude.
• 27:36
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, they they'll be in class and they'll tell you, yeah, no, I I I like it.
• 27:40
  SPEAKER_00: I I'm glad I'm here.
• 27:42
  SPEAKER_00: And then they they email you and they're like, Wow, you were not kidding about sophomore slump.
• 27:46
  SPEAKER_00: Good thing you told me how to prepare for it, or good thing you taught me how to do this because it's really helped me.
• 27:52
  SPEAKER_00: And so um, I just like that I made an impact, even if it's little.
• 27:57
  SPEAKER_01: That's amazing, Corey.
• 27:59
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, thank you for sharing all about Avid.
• 28:02
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, think a lot of people listening had maybe some idea about Avid and have a much better clearer picture of it.
• 28:09
  SPEAKER_01: Uh so thank you for what you do for our kids.
• 28:12
  SPEAKER_01: We're going to close out the way that I do every episode and ask you what was your favorite thing to do at recess?
• 28:20
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, so I was a nerd.
• 28:23
  SPEAKER_00: I like to grab a book and find a quiet place to sit down.
• 28:27
  SPEAKER_00: We didn't have a playground at my school, so I would usually find a teacher that was kind enough to let me curl up in a corner and I would just want to read during lunch.
• 28:38
  SPEAKER_01: That's awesome.
• 28:39
  SPEAKER_01: And that, I mean, a lot of times I'll sit here and and somebody liked skipping rope or playing dodgeball or whatever it was, and I said, Have you done this as an adult?
• 28:50
  SPEAKER_01: No.
• 28:51
  SPEAKER_01: Uh get out there and do it, right?
• 28:52
  SPEAKER_01: But that's a lifelong passion skill.
• 28:56
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I still like to I still like to cool curl up with a book.
• 28:59
  SPEAKER_01: So good.
• 29:00
  SPEAKER_01: Well, thank you again for being my guest.
• 29:02
  SPEAKER_01: Corey Agnew, avid teacher, uh leader at Cascade Middle School.
• 29:08
  SPEAKER_01: And Corey, your team, could you want to just mention the avid team at Cascade before we close this out?
• 29:14
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, sure.
• 29:15
  SPEAKER_00: I we have an amazing team.
• 29:17
  SPEAKER_00: Um, Kevin Olsen is the other half of the site coordinator team, so we try to make sure that Avid is available school-wide.
• 29:24
  SPEAKER_00: The Avid elective teachers are myself, uh Marie Dalton, and Emily Godfrey.
• 29:30
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and that whole group had just done a phenomenal job.
• 29:34
  SPEAKER_01: And uh you see it in the students and the results.
• 29:38
  SPEAKER_01: So, Corey, thank you so much for being my guest today.
• 29:40
  unknown: Thank you so much.
• 29:41
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you so much.
• 29:42
  SPEAKER_01: And this has been the Recess Podcast.
• 29:44
  SPEAKER_01: If you know somebody who uh is maybe a proud Spartan or a parent uh or has an interest in Avid, might think about the AVID program for their child who's now in elementary school or entering middle school, uh, please pass this podcast episode along.
• 30:02
  SPEAKER_01: We want to get the word out because there are some really incredible opportunities in the district, and the recess is a way that we share those.
• 30:10
  SPEAKER_01: So that will do it for today.
• 30:12
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you to Vicky Alonzo, our producer, and thank you to all of you for listening.
• 30:17
  SPEAKER_01: Please join me again next time on the Recess Podcast.