CREF 2025 Benchmark School Awards Deadline is June 27
The Collision Repair Education Foundation’s Benchmark School Awards empower collision repair schools with access to the latest tools, equipment, and supplies, enriching the learning environment.
The goal of the Benchmark School Awards is to honor schools that have been doing an outstanding job in educating students in collision repair, but need some financial assistance to improve their program’s teaching materials and equipment. The program offers cash grants and in-kind donations of advanced tools, equipment, and resources.
According to a news release, the CREF helps bridge the program’s financial gap and make a difference in the lives of the students studying collision repair. The winners are selected by a Volunteer Selection Committee composed of industry members and announced at the SEMA Show in Las Vegas from November 4-7.
The deadline for CREF’s 2025 Benchmark School Awards applications is Friday, June 27. To fill out an application, click here.
Repair Planning Software Donations Help Students
Successful collision repair professionals need many skills to keep pace in a rapidly advancing industry. The skill sets students must develop are just as interrelated as the various components of a vehicle. Repair planning offers repair professionals insights into other aspects of the collision world, and mastering this skill can open the doors to unforeseen opportunities.
This has certainly been the case for industry professional Jannifer Stimmel-Watkins. As a student, she was fortunate to have access to repair planning software – thanks to the partnership between the Collision Repair Education Foundation and Audatex, CCC, and Mitchell.
The knowledge she acquired during her education allowed her to place first in Damage Analysis during the 2019 Texas State SkillsUSA Competition. After graduation, Stimmel-Watkins worked in a shop as a diagnostic technician, focusing on ADAS.
“When a vehicle first came into the shop, I would use the software to review details about the vehicle, including which ADAS systems may have been impacted by the accident, and analyzing that data allowed me to determine what needed to be done to properly repair the vehicle,” she said. “I wouldn’t have been able to excel at those tasks if I hadn’t gained experience with that software during school.”
Technicians who lack that exposure during their education rarely get the chance to learn about it in the workplace. Collision instructors include lessons on everything from bodywork to refinishing to estimating. To best prepare students for a successful career, they need access to the latest and greatest tools, equipment, and software.
Industry members interested in getting involved and supporting the Collision Repair Education Foundation’s efforts to assist high school and college collision repair training programs can get more information or make a donation online here. Read the rest of Stimmel-Watkins' story on the CREF website here.
