Before she knew what it was, Virginia Hunt was living the AVID program.
Now she is the district coordinator for AVID in Ector County ISD. Hunt, who is known as the AVID Lady, has been with the district for 20 years and an educator for 21 starting off at Pecos-Barstow-Toyah ISD.
A native of Laredo, Hunt has three brothers. Her parents were the late Octavio and Alicia Gaytan.
“My father was an immigrant entrepreneur who loved reading and my mother was a creative and innovative thinker. My brothers and I were all labeled as low socioeconomic, second language learners, first-generation college students, and we all graduated in the top 5 of our respective classes and all attended college,” Hunt said.
That was the top 5, not the top 5 percent.
Noting that she misses her parents very much, she added that their high expectations and support were critical to the success of her and her siblings.
“Now, my husband and I have the honor to continue that legacy with our kids, Isabella and Daniel,” Hunt said in an email.
Hunt attended Sul Ross State University where she earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology.
“… I did have several different offers, but I really appreciated that Sul Ross State University had that private university feel because it was so small. You get to know your professors. You get to see them in the community, but it was a state university. So, being from a lower socioeconomic class background that was very important for me,” Hunt said.
While in Alpine, Hunt started her first career as a mental health case worker. She was working toward a master’s in psychology, but when she became an educator, she switched to a master’s in counseling.
“I started off teaching at Cavazos Elementary as a bilingual teacher … for about seven years before I moved to the district as an instructional coach. Then I went into counseling after that at Bowie for several more years …,” Hunt said.
She added that she loved working at the elementary and middle school.
“I was surprised because they always say middle school is reserved for very, very special people. And the students, though they’re a little bit bigger, they still needed a lot of guidance. I was glad to work there. My biggest pleasure … was working with the parents because at the elementary level, the parents are very involved. But … by the time they get into middle school, those parents that are very involved feel bad for being so involved,” Hunt said.
Even so, she encouraged parents to be involved. Hunt said that came from her parents.
“… I think the partnership between teachers and parents is super important. And as a counselor, more than anything I was able to do that very intentionally,” she said.
Her husband, Milton, was a probation officer in Pecos. One of the first jobs she was offered was to be a teacher.
By November of her first year teaching, Hunt knew she was going to stay with it.
“So when we moved to Odessa, that’s what I looked into teaching and we’re both educators now,” Hunt said.
Milton Hunt is the social studies department chair at Bowie Middle School.
Hunt began her AVID journey as a counselor at Bowie.
AVID stands for Advancement Via Individual Determination. Its mission is to close the achievement gap by preparing all students for college readiness and success in a global society. AVID’s systemic approach is designed to support students and educators as they increase schoolwide/districtwide learning and performance, the website said.
There are about 7,000 students total in the program, said Amy Anderson, district director for AVID.
“When AVID first entered into the district, I was a counselor and as the counselor I wasn’t technically the coordinator, but I was the co-coordinator at the campus, so I was able to attend some trainings and get to understand AVID a little bit more,” Hunt said.
Part of what attracted her to AVID was that it worked with students that were just like her: “First-generation college students from underrepresented demographics.”
“When I was in high school, I was part of the Upward Bound program. … Upward Bound and AVID have a lot of commonalities in their mission,” Hunt said.
“… When I got the opportunity to do AVID district wide at this level, I was super excited. I think AVID combined what I loved about teaching and what I loved about counseling all in one. And so I am very, very passionate about AVID’s mission and how it goes so seamlessly with the ECISD mission of making sure that our students are ready for their future,” she added.
Hunt can identify with the students, parents and teachers in AVID because those three enable education to be transformational.
“… AVID has this formula that says rigor plus support equals success. … We had that growing up and so now I get to impact the future of our students here in ECISD,” directly or indirectly, Hunt said.
She added that she is with a group of AVID teachers and is involved in a lot of professional development.
“I’m also a national staff developer for AVID, so I feel like … this is what keeps me in the business, the idea of impacting the lives of so many. …,” Hunt added.
AVID also has programs for career exploration and internships and it now follows through their postsecondary careers.
Anderson said Hunt is passionate about the work they do from celebrating individual successes to leading the transformational work of equity.
“She draws from her personal experience as an English language learner who navigated herself through the higher education system to achieve the success she now has. … It is a joy to work alongside of her to create systems to support all learners,” Anderson said in a text message.
