Last holiday season, Curie Metropolitan High School's AVID Class of 2017 visited the children of Gads Hill Center's Early Head Start Home Visiting program. The AVID students gave Santa Claus a run for his money, donating $1,000 and over 300 toys to the program, and even dressing up as Santa to distribute gifts.
Alondra Garcia, an AVID student who's involved with Curie Metropolitan High School's Television Studio, created a skillfully-produced video about the visit (see below). Alondra told GHC staff, “I have always been interested in video since I was little and decided in 6th grade that I wanted to pursue it as a career. I will most likely be attending the School of the Art Institute this fall. My career goal is to become a videographer and/or editor for news stations then hopefully later, eventually movies!”
Alondra Garcia, an AVID student who's involved with Curie Metropolitan High School's Television Studio, created a skillfully-produced video about the visit (see below). Alondra told GHC staff, “I have always been interested in video since I was little and decided in 6th grade that I wanted to pursue it as a career. I will most likely be attending the School of the Art Institute this fall. My career goal is to become a videographer and/or editor for news stations then hopefully later, eventually movies!”
Alondra and the other students who visited are all enrolled in Curie Metropolitan High School's AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) program, which is designed for high school students who plan to attend college. The AVID program places students in advanced courses and helps them with the college enrollment process, including campus visits. One of the main components of the AVID program is service: the dedicated students of the AVID Class of 2017 planned and executed this toy drive after finishing a philanthropy unit for the class.
Mr. Nguyen, their teacher, chose Gads Hill Center for the class’s service project partly because GHC offered the students the option to visit and interact with the children. Additionally, Gads Hill Center's CEO, Maricela García, spoke with the students and took them on a tour of our facilities describing the services GHC provides.
Supporting children is a cause that the students of the AVID program plan to continue – for them, this toy drive was just the beginning. As one of the AVID students reflected, "These children will be a part of the future we'll all be living in, so we should give them as a good of a future as we can." A sentiment shared by all of us at Gads Hill Center.