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Edina AVID student chosen to speak at national summer institute after award‑winning essay
Summary
Marari Ferreiro, a senior in the AVID program at Edina High School, won a student speaker contest and was selected to present her essay at the AVID Summer Institute in Dallas; AVID staff and school leaders described the program’s role in boosting academic skills and college readiness.
Marari Ferreiro, a senior in Edina High School’s AVID program, told the school board April 7 she was selected from hundreds of applicants to deliver an award‑winning essay at the AVID Summer Institute in Dallas this summer.
AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) is a college‑preparatory elective that administrators said trains students in academic rigor and executive‑functioning skills. Jeff Pope, administrative dean at Edina High School, introduced Ferreiro and said the national student speaker contest receives more than 900 applicants annually and accepts roughly 22% of entrants.
Ferreiro read her essay, “Becoming My Own Hero,” in which she described struggling with grief and peer pressure during high school, and credited AVID teachers and staff — including Mrs. Taylor and Mrs. Jarrett — with helping her rebuild academic focus and confidence. “AVID wasn’t any class, it was a community,” Ferreiro said during her remarks. She told the board AVID helped her move from low grades to A‑level performance, join the math team and become a tutor at the middle school.
Pope said AVID’s summer institute serves as both a teacher training opportunity and a venue for student speakers; he described the program as having been founded in 1980 by a San Diego teacher, Mary Katherine Swanson, and noted that AVID training hosts tens of thousands of educators each year. Ferreiro told the board she plans to enroll at the University of St. Thomas and major in mechanical engineering.
Why it matters: The selection highlights a district student’s academic progress and the AVID program’s local role in college preparation; administrators said AVID’s coaching and teacher supports were critical to Ferreiro’s turnaround.
What the board said: Board members praised the student and the staff who support AVID; one member summarized the essay’s message as a call for students to “be your own hero.”
