By Julie Faryniarz
College. This is a milestone many Greenwich kids have been planning to reach since middle school and high school. There have been college visits, tests and more tests, rigorous courses, community service projects, letters of recommendation, applications upon applications, and FAFSA submissions for some. As parents we have been part of it all. It is finally time to pack up all the things “needed” for comfortable dorm living and head out on this new adventure of learning and future building.
What is less known about in Greenwich is that there are many students who did not realize college was an option for them until they enrolled in AVID in middle school or high school. When they attend college they will be First Generation College Students (First-Gen) as their parents did not go college in the United States and, in most cases, have no college experience at all.
AVID, Advancement Via Individual Determination, is an internationally recognized college-readiness system designed to close the achievement gap and promote equity and access in education. It was brought to the Greenwich Public Schools in 2008 by the Greenwich Alliance for Education. AVID is an elective course and the content taught by the AVID teachers is designed to move students from thinking about college to college acceptance. Each student graduates with strong academics, executive functioning, and self advocacy skills. Since its inception, there have been 376 AVID graduates and many have earned an associate or bachelor degree and are working in various fields including finance and healthcare or are seeking graduate school degrees.
The Greenwich Alliance for Education, as part of our AVID SUCCESS initiative, continues to invest and support these students well beyond high school with scholarships, coaching and mentoring, financial literacy education, jobs and networking workshops and opportunities, internships, and the Transition to College Program (T2C). Funding from the Greenwich United Way and the Greenwich Department of Human Services help us offer the T2C program.
T2C, a 6 night – 12 hour workshop series held at the YMCA Greenwich wrapped up its second year at the end of July. Trish Rohr, AVID SUCCESS Program Director, taught and facilitated the evenings for 21 AVID Class of 2024 graduates and 9 AVID college alumni who were our interns. AVID SUCCESS scholarship data, AVID teacher ideas, student/alumni surveys, and our own personal experiences from when our children transitioned to college was used to design the materials and information taught to the students. Trish also dug into “The Hidden Curriculum” to help these first-gen students navigate and understand social situations, campus culture, and academic strategies to avoid potential pitfalls that could impede their success. The interns and the participating students were each compensated for attending the T2C workshops because we know the information is important, we respect their time, and having money at college is necessary.
We collaborated with many community partners to ensure valuable information was shared each night of T2C. One night Liberations Program and Greenwich Together first listened to the stories the AVID alumni told to the recent 2024 AVID grads about the prevalence of drugs and alcohol at their colleges. Liberations then talked about the importance for students to set up personal boundaries in this space, while at the same time highlighting hidden dangers that exist with binge drinking and/or drug use.
Another night The First Bank of Greenwich used two hours to talk about personal finance, saving and budgeting while at college. Students had many questions about credit cards and when is the right time to start building their own credit. Other evenings focused on specific college studying and time management skills, familiarizing each student with their college website and important resources, dissecting a tuition bill and how to eliminate unnecessary costs for things like the book bundle. Thanks to a grant from AT&T, we were able to give six students new computers who, after turning in their Chromebooks to Greenwich High School, would have been without technology. A fun program finale was an evening at Tod’s Point organized by our friend, Bob DeAngelo.
Two additional workshops took place after the six July sessions. Liberations Program came back to teach QPR (Question. Persuade. Refer – suicide prevention training) and AVID alumni showed students how to set up and use Google Calendar as a useful organizational tool. Next steps for AVID Class of 2024 will be frequent one-one check-ins via text or zoom and a reunion party in December after they conclude their first semester. Research shows that when a first-gen student re-enrolls for a second year, they are 43% more likely to complete a college degree (ww.air.org). Our programming before and during the first year of college is focused on ensuring students persist into their second year.
With summer ending and the new adventure of college beginning, we are confident the AVID program and teachers, along with the Alliance’s T2C program have positioned these first-gen students for college academic success. We wish all the college bound students in Greenwich a very safe and happy freshman year.
Julie Faryniarz is the Executive Director of the Greenwich Alliance for Education since 2009. She and Danny are proud parents of three GPS graduates. Julie is a longtime community volunteer and a recipient of the PTAC Essence Award and a YWCA Women Who Inspire Honoree.
