On April 3rd, 31 Fillmore High School students will travel to Northern California on the annual AVID Junior trip. The AVID program is designed to help students be more successful in their academic endeavors and to prepare them for the transition to college. Fillmore High School has had a successful AVID program since the early nineties when it was started by Mr. Joe Torres, who retired in 2006. Since that time, Ms. Erin Moriarty and Mr. Paul FitzGerald have continued the program at FHS and it was reintroduced to the middle school this year by Mr. Scott Carroll and Me. Heather Atwood. AVID has helped countless Fillmore students to successfully transition to four year universities.

This year, the Avid Junior class trip will take a whirlwind tour of 5 universities in three days. Students will visit Fresno State University, UC Merced, UC Berkeley, Stanford University and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo University. They will tour the campuses, see the dorms and get important information on admissions requirements, financial aid, and college life.

The AVID Junior class has worked very hard this year to raise money for this event. They have also received generous donations from the Montana Expedition Fund, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Wells Fargo, Tim and Stephanie Hagel and most recently the Central Station Bar and Grill. The AVID Junior Class would like to thank all of their sponsors, especially Frank Ramirez and Cynthia Garcia-Espinoza from Central Station for their continued support of the AVID program at Fillmore High School.

For more information on how you can help the FHS AVID program, email Paul FitzGerald at pfitzgerald@fillmore.k12.ca.us.