​Part three of a series focusing on how the Cherry Creek School District is meeting the needs of all children.

Coby Duhon is following in his older brother’s footsteps as an AVID student at Liberty Middle School. An eighth-grader, Coby is now in his third year of AVID, or Advancement Via Individual Determination.

“AVID helps you gain the confidence you need to be successful in school and out of school as well,” said AVID teacher Jan Tice, who has worked with all three Duhon brothers. “We really push students to be in higher-level courses in high school and prepare them for that by helping them develop good note-taking, organization and time management skills.”

Coby’s oldest brother, Carrington, was the first to enroll in AVID, offered as an elective course at all Cherry Creek middle and high schools. He is now two classes away from an associate’s degree in fire science at Arapahoe Community College. Middle brother Carrington, now a junior at Cherokee Trail High School, is in his sixth year of AVID, and is thinking about studying marketing after high school. Coby is interested in auto mechanics, engineering and architecture.

The boys’ father, Joe Duhon, says AVID has benefitted all of his sons, with its focus on writing as a tool of learning, inquiry method and collaborative grouping.

“AVID teachers don’t let anybody off the hook. They will challenge you,” Joe Duhon said. But he adds that the academic challenge is only part of the equation. According to Duhon, the social and emotional support AVID offers is just as valuable. “Every student needs an advocate, someone to talk to periodically to make sure they’re doing ok. AVID does a tremendous job of that.”