We as people tend to be attracted to quality products that have a proven reputation among the general public. When I purchase my clothes I have been known to “fall into the Gap”, wear Ralph Lauren, and sometimes even dress up in Jos A Bank. All of these companies have captured something in a very competitive industry that keeps people coming back for more and willing to make the investment to pay a little more for a better product. When I look at AVID I see this same similarity.  The program recognizes that subgroups of students in the past have who “fallen into the Gaps”.  This unsettling fact presents the challenge of bringing these students not only back to ground zero, but into to college and beyond.  It teaches these students how to become self activated and reap the benefits of quality education.  If one has the opportunity to meet an AVID student, or observe an AVID classroom in action they quickly learn these students are on the path to becoming successful competitive leaders in our future workforce.Nearly every time I step in to an AVID elective I am anointed with the feeling of goose bumps when I observe first hand students with unlocked minds involved in learning.   I have had the great experience of observing various classrooms in Wichita, McKinney, Cypress, and Houston.  In each setting the brand and quality were the same.  I have also joined an amazing network of professionals who extend beyond the United States and share the common bond of Advancement Via Individual Determination.   AVID is more than a program that has settled with great results.  It is a progressive systemic method of reaching success through research, best practices, and leadership.  Every person who I have encountered in this journey has a shared passion for empowering leaders at all levels of education.  I feel confident that I can help transform the outlook of district administrators, lead the site team, train the tutors, and support the elective teachers to revolutionize students who may have “fallen into the Gap”My AVID voice is not a lonely voice singing in the shower.  It is a unified voice that is perfectly in tune with others throughout a professional community which has been branded for success.  This experience is not intend to be kept to myself it must be shared and paid forward.  As the wheel begins to turn the vision is expanded beyond the walls of the classroom, beyond the walls of the school, beyond the district decisions, but into the lives of successful students that have achieved the reality of the college dream.