When Coal Ridge High School senior Yahir Garcia walks across the graduation stage this spring, he will be carrying more than a diploma. He will also be carrying a long-held goal, one shaped by family, community, and a desire to make health care more accessible for others. Yahir will be one of 10 students statewide to have the opportunity to walk straight into one of Colorado’s most competitive medical pathway programs.

Garcia has been accepted into the University of Colorado Denver / CU Anschutz Medical Campus BA/BS-MD Program, a highly competitive pathway that allows students to complete their undergraduate degree while holding a conditional seat in medical school. 

For children facing critical illness, a wish can be more than a moment of happiness, it can be a turning point. For Violeta, a four-year-old cancer survivor from western Garfield County, that turning point is a dream of meeting her favorite K-Pop group, TWICE.

Garfield Re-2 School District will honor that hope during Make-A-Wish Week. In Garfield Re-2, February 9–12 Rifle and Coal Ridge High Schools will hold a variety of assemblies, spirit days, and community events designed to raise awareness and support for wish kids like Violeta.

Garfield Re-2’s four-year graduation rate climbed to 87.7%, an increase of more than two percentage points from last year. The district’s seven-year completion rate reached 89.0%, reflecting strong systems that support students who may need additional time or flexibility to complete high school.

These rates place Garfield Re-2 ahead of its neighboring districts and above the current statewide average.