After preparing to be evaluated for several months, the high school was the first in the district to earn AVID National Demonstration status on April 19.

“We successfully implemented the strategies that have been proven to help students be prepared in high school and college,” AVID Site Coordinator Katrina Mabry-Smith said. “Having that title allows other (schools) in the country to be able to see how we model AVID as a system.”

The distinction is earned by only 2 percent of AVID schools worldwide.

“We made sure to highlight that these were all normal things we do,” Smith said. “I really wanted to make the evaluators understand that our goal is to get every kid to career readiness.”

Middle schools James Coble and T.A. Howard are the only other National Demonstration campuses in the district.

“Coble administrators and teachers helped with providing insight on the experiences of their evaluation day,” Smith said.

The announcement occurred during the last block, in the PAC.

“The whole room went crazy when they announced we made the status,” sophomore Abieyuwa Musa said. “I was so proud that all our hard work paid off, we spent all year preparing for that one day.”

The next evaluation will be in three years.

“Mrs. (Kimberly) Pena and Mrs. Smith put in tremendous effort in trying to prepare us for the evaluation,” sophomore Zaria Ambers said. “They pushed us to become better students and now we’ve earned the title.”

Smith said she appreciated everyone’s participation in modeling Cornell Notes, decorating the hallways and engaging in AVID activities.

“I really want to thank every student, teacher and administrator for their hard work,” she said. “We wouldn’t have been able to accomplish our goal without the support. We all showed that Timberview embodies AVID.”