Success Stories


Gerardo Chavez


Picture of Latoya Anderson

Mentor : Blanca Rodriguez

Gerardo Chavez came to me at the Atwater High School Career Center in 2004 looking for assistance in getting a job. He comes from migrant and low income family. He needed to work to help his family and money for his own expenses. At the time, the YOP program was full and he was placed on a waiting list. A few months later, he and his sister came by again to check regarding the YOP program. Luckily, this time there was room in the program and he was able to enroll. That summer of 2004, Gerardo was enrolled in the Working Professional class and placed at Foot action as his training site. Gerardo was very excited about working there. Gerardo developed strong skills in costumer service and was able to do well at the site. At the end of the summer, he was offered a part-time job at the store. He happily accepted and worked there during his senior year at Atwater High School.

This summer, he again attended my Working professional class. He requested and was placed at Kragens in Atwater as his training site. Jason, the store supervisor, was very impressed with Gerardo's strong work ethic. Gerardo worked hard and behaved in a professional manner. He even went in during his days off to help at the store. He was consistently marked as excellent in all of his evaluations at his job site. Again, at the end of the summer, he was offered a job.

Now, he is working at both stores and attending Merced College. His goal is to major in criminology and plans to be a Police officer. Gerardo appreciates the YOP program and is thankful for the opportunity to work, which opened the door to not only one job, but two.