Slade is one of 326 students enrolled in the Corporate Work Study Program at Don Bosco Cristo Rey High School, a private college preparatory school in Takoma Park that partners with businesses across the Washington metro area. For students, the program offers an opportunity to gain some professional experience early on, before they continue their education outside the walls of DBCR. For businesses, it trains the workforce of the future while providing capable, eager hands, willing to perform often mundane but essential office tasks for a low price.

“For me the biggest [value of] this program is the self-responsibility I see the students acquire, the reins they take of their own life,” said Kevin Virostek, managing partner for Greater Washington at Ernst & Young LLP.

The school trains students through a preparatory boot camp of sorts, then sends a rotating team of four to the partnering company’s office from September until June, with each student working about one day a week — five days per month. In return for what essentially equates to one full-time staffer, the company typically pays $30,000.

See the complete article on the Washington Post website >

The post first appeared on MissionNewswire.