FutureForward graduate excels in Auto Collision

Gabriel Alvarez Rivas was a three year Auto Collision student at FutureForward Bollman, and graduated from Thornton High School in May 2023. Gabriel entered the Auto Collision pathway at Bollman during his sophomore year of high school and remained in the pathway until he graduated. During his tenure at Bollman, Gabe excelled at a great speed which led him to interning for his entire senior year.

Through our industry partnership with Caliber Collision, Gabe, was able to apply his technical skills that he learned at Bollman in a real life setting. This experience as a senior intern led him to enter Caliber's Technician Apprentice Program (TAPS) after graduating high school. The Technician Apprentice Program is a free, hands-on auto body technician training program that teams individuals with an experienced technician in a Caliber Collision center to take their skills to the next level – while also getting paid.  This program is one all entry level technicians must complete as they onboard with the Caliber family.

Given Gabe's background, he was able to complete the program in only 8 months. He graduated from Caliber's Technician Apprentice Program on February 22, making him a full service technician.

Paving the way
Gabe's younger sister is a tenth grader at Thornton High School and has already began her path of also pursuing the Automotive Collision program at FutureForward Bollman. She is excited to follow in the footsteps of her older brother and make a name for herself as a female student in a traditionally male-dominated trade.

"I believe the impact that Gabe has had on his younger siblings will have large scale change and career trajectory for all of them. This young man has truly embraced what Career and Technical Education can do for students now and in the future. We are very proud of all of his hard work and I cannot wait to see what the future holds for this young man" Chris Duran, Assistant Principal, FutureForward Bollman.

Special thanks to the FutureForward community for submitting this Five Star Story.

This story exemplifies our ELEVATE Focus Area: Diverse Learning. Sharing stories of how students receive engaging learning experiences and the focused-attention they need through appropriate student-to-staff ratios and varied programming.