Blueprint for success: How one BVSD Student found a future in construction

Summer Leadership Academy helps BVSD students experience new career paths

5 min read

Until this summer, Stacy Quezada wasn’t sure what she wanted to study after high school.

She was considering everything from business and finance to a career in medicine. Construction management was simply one possibility on a long list.

Then she walked onto a construction site.

“I never thought I would do something like this,” said Stacy, a rising senior at Fairview High School. “It definitely stepped me out of my comfort zone, but it taught me a lot.”

Fairview High senior Stacy Quezada at her internship with colleagues from Adolfson & Peterson Construction

Through the Boulder Valley School District’s Grad+ Summer Leadership Academy, supported by Impact on Education, Stacy spent four weeks interning with commercial construction company Adolfson & Peterson Construction (AP). In this role, she’s learning firsthand how schools and other community spaces come together, from planning meetings and permits to safety inspections and project management.

“I never thought I would do something like this… It definitely stepped me out of my comfort zone, but it taught me a lot.”

The experience didn’t just introduce her to a new industry. It helped her picture a future she hadn’t previously imagined.

“I think now I’m leaning more toward construction management and the finance side of it,” she said.

Exploring careers through real-world experience

The Summer Leadership Academy helps rising juniors and seniors build leadership skills while exploring careers through mentorship, professional workshops and internships with local employers. Students receive a $500 stipend for participating, encouraging teens both with and without financial means to experience an internship and career training program.

Impact on Education helps make the program possible by providing financial and staff support, working alongside Boulder Valley School District and community partners to connect students with meaningful workplace experiences.

This year, 33 students participated in the program with internships in medical fields, human service organizations, and small businesses in the Boulder Valley region.

Before beginning their internships, students spent a week participating in leadership workshops, mock interviews, professional panels and team-building activities.

“The mock interviews were really helpful,” Stacy said. “I know a lot of students hadn’t had a job before, so it was a chance to practice and feel more prepared.”

Learning what teamwork really looks like

At AP, Stacy quickly learned how much goes into bringing a construction project to life.

Working alongside the project superintendent, project manager, field engineer, and safety manager, she helped organize project documentation, assisted with safety orientations and inspections, and sat in on daily foreman meetings while renovations took place at her own high school.

She was surprised by just how much coordination goes into every project.

“I didn’t realize how much planning there was,” she said. “It’s a lot of little things, and if one person doesn’t get something done, it affects everybody else. Teamwork is the number one thing that goes into construction.”

The internship also gave her something many young people rarely experience: the chance to contribute in a meaningful way.

“I was definitely the youngest person there,” Stacy said. “Sometimes when you’re the youngest, you feel like you’re not heard. But everybody at AP welcomed me. I got to share my ideas, participate in meetings and take on real responsibilities.”

In fact, Stacy enjoyed the experience so much that when her four-week internship ended, she asked if she could stay through the completion of the project.

“Sometimes when you’re the youngest, you feel like you’re not heard. But everybody at AP welcomed me. I got to share my ideas, participate in meetings and take on real responsibilities.”

“They’re letting me stay until the end,” she said. “I wanted to see how everything comes together and how a project finishes.”

The power of partnership

For more than a decade, Adolfson & Peterson Construction has partnered with Impact on Education to expand opportunities for Boulder Valley students.

In addition to supporting events like Impact on Education’s annual gala, the company volunteers with initiatives like Career Readiness Academy and Dare to Dream, a career exploration program in elementary schools across the district. They also donate materials to BVSD career and technical education programs, and have hired Boulder Valley students.

“The Summer Leadership Academy gave me connections and opportunities that I don’t think I would have found by myself. I didn’t even know about this company before.”

This summer, that partnership — and support from 16 other local businesses and organizations — created opportunities for students like Stacy to explore potential careers alongside professionals eager to share their knowledge.

“I don’t think I would have found something like this on my own,” Stacy said. “The Summer Leadership Academy gave me connections and opportunities that I don’t think I would have found by myself. I didn’t even know about this company before.”

She also recognizes that opportunities like these aren’t available to every student.

“I think it’s very powerful,” she said. “I have friends in other school districts, and they don’t receive the same support and opportunities that I have. I really appreciate it.”

Opening doors to what’s next

The Boulder Valley School District’s Grad+ framework is designed to help students graduate with more than a diploma by providing access to college credit, work-based learning, industry certifications and opportunities that prepare them for life after high school.

With funding and staff support from Impact on Education, the program has expanded from supporting 12 students in its first year to 33 students in its third year, and from nine organizations hosting interns to 16 organizations hosting interns. Many of the hosts take two or more students. 

For Stacy, that investment has already made a difference.

She plans to continue exploring construction management while applying to colleges including Colorado State University, the University of Colorado Boulder, the University of Colorado Denver, and the University of Denver.

More importantly, she now has a clearer picture of where her interests — and her talents — might lead.

Sometimes all it takes is the opportunity to try something new.

BEFORE YOU GO

Impact on Education is an independent nonprofit supporting the Boulder Valley School District. We depend on the generosity of our community to put our mission into action.

Will you help us provide opportunities and resources to local students?