GGUSD AVID Students Receive Hundreds of Thousands in College Scholarships

Avid student displaying her award.

Thirty AVID seniors from Garden Grove Unified School District (GGUSD) were awarded more than $640,000 in college scholarships during the 2018 AVID Senior Standout Recognition & Scholarship Presentation hosted on April 24 by the Orange County Department of Education (OCDE).  The event recognizes impressive senior standout students who are part of the AVID program at high schools across Orange County.

“The AVID program has become one of the most impactful and meaningful experiences our students have the opportunity to participate in while here at GGUSD,” said Lan Nguyen, Board of Education, vice president. “Our AVID senior standouts are college-ready leaders who are eager to pursue exciting goals and these scholarships are extremely helpful in putting them on a path to success.”

During the countywide celebration, Los Amigos High School AVID Senior Standout Jessie Duran presented a keynote speech about overcoming personal obstacles, the power of AVID in her own life, and the college goals she is already on her way to achieving. 

Senior standout students from GGUSD included Nadyah Shah, Bolsa Grande High School; Jessica Talingo, Garden Grove High School; Yiwen Tan, La Quinta High School, Jessie Duran, Los Amigos High School; Patsy Alcocer, Pacifica High School; Phillip Huynh, Rancho Alamitos High School; and Jennifer Navarrete, Santiago High School.

GGUSD is a leader in college readiness and outperforms the county and state in the number of high school seniors completing rigorous college entrance exams, due in large part, to the widespread implementation of AVID in GGUSD intermediate and high schools.  Doig Intermediate School and Santiago High School have been named national demonstration schools by the AVID program and Alamitos Intermediate School was named a school-wide site of distinction.   GGUSD is also breaking new ground by offering opportunities for sixth grade students to learn AVID strategies.