An AVID inspiration
When she raised her hand last spring, Stella Schlak could hardly imagine the adventure that would ensue.
Each year, as a writing exercise, eighth-grade AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) students put together a proposal to be a student speaker at an AVID Summer Institute, which draws thousands of teachers from around the country to learn new skills. Students then have a choice if they want to actually go through the process to apply to be a student speaker.
“I was kind of thinking to myself, ‘I don’t think I’m going to waste my time doing this, because what are the odds? Thousands of kids are doing this. What are the odds that I’m going to actually win?’” said Schlak, now a ninth-grader at Buffalo High School.
But a friend convinced her to try, and she raised her hand along with seven other BCMS students. When AVID evaluators saw her application, they immediately began to think bigger. Megan Losey, then-AVID coordinator at BCMS, received a phone call from the national office.
“He said, ‘We don’t think she deserves five minutes on stage. She needs 75 minutes on stage,” Losey recalled.
In other words, Schlak was given alternate status as a student speaker, but handed the far higher profile position of facilitating the entire general session as a student emcee.
“She was chosen because of who she is, and the brightness and the light that just shine from her,” said Losey. “She’s got an infectious smile, and she’s so genuine and authentic.”
A video conference was arranged where AVID officials extended the emcee invitation to Schlak.
“It was such a such a crazy moment for me to think that out of all the people they could have picked, they just picked an eighth-grade girl from Buffalo, Minnesota,” said Schlak.
Losey said that while many local students had applied before, none had even received an email back.
“It’s always just kind of been, ‘Oh well. Maybe someday,’” she said. “But now, I think with Stella doing this, it shows our kids that you can be from Buffalo, Minnesota, and you can do cool things. This is a really cool way to show younger kids that you are developing skills in this program that are going to help you be able to do things like this.”
Both Schlak and Losey credited BCMS AVID teachers Nicki Schahn and Andrea Koltes with instilling the skills needed to succeed.
“It’s something that we’ve worked really hard for, and been very intentional about – building a program that has high expectations for students, but also the support to reach those high expectations,” Losey said. “When other people come to our building and watch our tutorials or anything like that, they are amazed at what our students can do, and it’s really because of Nikki and Andrea.”
AVID skills
The AVID program teaches foundational skills such as organization, focused note-taking and public speaking while giving students dedicated time to prepare for college and careers. Schlak said the program has been transformational.
“Looking back, I was a completely different person,” she said. “Before I joined AVID, I was so shy. Public speaking was my nemesis. Then I joined AVID, and practice does make progress because I started getting better at it. Honestly, there would be no way I could go to Kansas City if I hadn’t started doing these tutorials where you’re presenting in a small group, or doing these projects where you’re presenting a college that you researched. It is such a learning curve, but it helps you feel more confident in yourself by light-years.”
As an example, Schlak said AVID classes at BCMS undertake their own version of March Madness, where students research and present about colleges every day, and are graded on their content and presentation.
“You research one day, and the next you’re presenting. You win, research and present, and you’re doing it so consistently that you’re forced to build up that public speaking skill,” she said.
Losey said Schlak has exemplified a student who implements the strategies provided by AVID, practices hard, and finds success as a result.
“This was an amazing opportunity for one of our students,” she said. “And it tells me that this is a place where students find their voice, they feel supported, and they know that they can reach high heights because of the skills they develop here and the environment that has been created by our teachers.”
Kansas City
Schlak traveled to Kansas City, Missouri from July 22-24 for the AVID Summer Institute General Session. In her emcee role, Schlak helped welcome about 2,000 educators and students from around the country to one of AVID’s signature events. She guided the flow of the session, introduced speakers, interviewed teachers, and more.
She didn’t have a direct script, but along with her partner – an eighth-grader from Kansas City – followed the prompts of a director sitting in the front row. She was nervous ahead of time, but felt well-prepared when she took the stage.
“I had a lot of anxiety beforehand, and then it’s like I got on stage and suddenly it clicked and I was just like, ‘Okay, we’re rolling,’” Schlak said. “And just like that, all of the confidence just came back and I was ready to go.”
One of Schlak’s favorite parts of the day was going out into the audience to interview teachers about their “AVID why.”
“It was just so cool connecting with teachers I’ve never ever talked to, and I probably will never talk to again, but we all can connect with AVID,” she said. “AVID has changed all of our lives. It’s all one big family.”
In addition to meeting other teachers and students, hearing inspiring stories and visiting a new city, Schlak also had a taste of the celebrity experience.
“People were coming up to me afterwards, asking for pictures and stuff. It was crazy,” she said. “I couldn’t imagine that it could have gone any smoother than it did. It was just amazing.”
