Seniors from all four Moreno Valley Unified School District high schools gathered at UC Riverside for the annual celebratory RIMS (Riverside, Inyo, Mono, San Bernardino) AVID Recognition event. High school students from all over Riverside County attended the event where each group of AVID seniors wasrecognized with loud cheers by parents, administrators and friends. Each school was represented by its AVID site coordinator and principal. The celebration recognized college acceptances and also included the presentation of AVID scholarships. This year, Vista del Lago High School senior Gisselle Munoz-Nungaray was awarded a UCR $1000 scholarship.
Riverside County Superintendent Dr. Judy White started the event with an inspirational poem to an audience filled with the graduating AVID students, parents, friends and dignitaries. School Board President Jesus Holguin and Vice President Cleveland Johnson, attended along with Superintendent Dr. Martinrex Kedziora.
“We are so very proud of our AVID seniors, many of whom will be the first to attend college, we know the time and effort these amazing students have put into their high school studies is paying off with college acceptances and scholarships,” said Board Vice President Cleveland Johnson.
Many of the same AVID seniors were individually recognized by the MVUSD Board of Education held at the district office boardroom. Between the UCR event and MVUSD event, about 400 students were recognized. All of the district’s AVID seniors have enrolled in college for the fall and will be pursuing their dream careers.
The MVUSD Professional Development Department provided support for both events. One particular individual who has provided yearlong support is MVUSD’s AVID Professional Development Specialist, Toni Saldana. She describes how proud she is of our students’ accomplishments and the teacher and administrative support received this year, “It's been an honor to support our site coordinators at all ten secondary schools. I'm so proud of our students’ achievements and the fact that we can take advantage of an amazing program like AVID to support them in being the first generation to attend college.”