Some Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) students built a 21-foot wheelchair ramp as a community service project.  The ramp was constructed for a 91-year-old woman just coming home from a nursing home. For many of these AVID students, this was the first time they worked on a construction project. 

Madison teacher Tyler Shoesmith, who just recently joined the Madison AVID site team, arranged the project with the San Antonio Alternative Housing Corporation, a non-profit organization that he has volunteered for previously. Another Madison teacher, Karen Doss, participated in the project.  She was able to demonstrate and explain to the AVID students the importance of mathematics in life as the students constructed the sloped wheelchair ramp, which involved many angles and measurements.
 
North East ISD implemented the AVID program at nine campuses in the 2006 – 2007 school year as part of the district’s initiative to promote college readiness. AVID is an in-school academic support program for grades 5-12 that prepares students for college eligibility and success.