GSSW's Bridge Project has been a fixture in Mario Santistevan's life since he was 9. Now 19, Santistevan (at left in photo with volunteer Matt Iwata, MSW '10) says he didn't fully realize the program's usefulness until two years ago.
Santistevan had a difficult time during middle and high school. At 16, after being expelled from two high schools, he entered the U.S. Department of Labor's Job Corps, a free educational and vocational training program.
Once he returned, Bridge Project staff helped connect Santistevan with the Emily Griffith Opportunity School, where he got his GED. He had a particularly difficult time with math, but he says Bridge provided the extra help he needed.
A new direction
GED in hand, Santistevan was ready to enter the work force. He thought that was the end of his relationship with Bridge.
Bridge Project staff, however, pointed him a different direction. "No, don't stop there," he says they insisted. After seeing statistics on the additional opportunities he'd have with college or professional education, Santistevan took his education a step further.
Assisted by a Bridge Project scholarship, Santistevan is studying fitness training at the Career Education Center Middle College of Denver. "I'm loving it," he says. "I like anatomy and learning about the how the different parts of the body all work together."
And every Wednesday, Santistevan returns to the Bridge Project's Columbine site as a volunteer tutor.
"It's a good feeling just to know that those kids look up to you," he says. "You want to set a good example for them."
