Still in its inaugural year, Cristo Rey Oklahoma City Catholic High School is already standing out as a college preparatory school through the integration of classroom education and work-study experience. The school has partnered with 37 companies in Oklahoma, in various industries, to provide an exceptional opportunity for students to acquire valuable, relevant workplace skills to supplement their learning.
Prior to the start of the school year, the first freshman class spent two weeks participating in a success training program. The process helped the work-study team at Cristo Rey understand everyone’s strengths and place them in positions best suited to their skills. It also provided students the confidence and knowledge they needed to enter the workplace ready to contribute as a productive employee.
Each partner company, including the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City, offers a full-time “job sharing” position and employs a team of four students, who each work one assigned day per week, plus one Friday each month. Cristo Rey designed the schedules so that students never miss classroom instruction time. In addition, students are provided with transportation to their workplaces. Along with the archdiocese, the Chickasaw Nation, Phillips Murrah, The Oklahoma City National Memorial and McBride Orthopedic Hospital are just a few of the participating partners.
In lieu of a paycheck, students receive assistance with a majority of their tuition costs at Cristo Rey with companies essentially serving as a sponsor for the student’s Catholic education. The arrangement provides the company with additional manpower at a low cost, and the student with a unique opportunity to receive a Catholic education that they could not afford otherwise.
While each job varies slightly, the majority of positions are administrative support roles. Students experience more than they would in a typical internship, as they are filling the role of an entry-level employee.
Regina Birchum, director of the Corporate Work Study Program at Cristo Rey, said the program is more beneficial than the typical work experience for a teenager.
“Each team shares a work position, and the job they do is providing value to the workplace,” Birchum said. “They’re in professional settings, learning the inner workings of an office like human resources and marketing. It’s exposing them to potential careers.”
Laura Martinez, a Cristo Rey student working at the Catholic Pastoral Center, assists with data entry, mailings and other clerical tasks.
“I’ve always worked with Google, so Microsoft is new to me and I’ve learned how to use it since I started here,” she said.
In addition to learning how to utilize a database management system, Martinez explained how the opportunity has helped improve her social skills.
“I’m pretty shy, so when I started working here, it forced me to come out my shell a little. I’m better at starting conversations than I was before, so that’s another positive of the work-study program.”
For Alex Sanchez, his first exposure to an office environment has given him a better idea of what awaits him in the workplace.
“I do anything from helping with projects and writing to filing and opening mail,” said Sanchez, who recently began working with the Office of Communications at the Catholic Pastoral Center. “It will definitely benefit me later to have these skills.”
Karla Delara has spent her time at the pastoral center editing information on the website, taking photographs of recent renovations and interviewing people. She recently began working in the Office of the Archbishop.
“I’m not used to opening up and talking to people, so this is a new experience for me. I like to learn new things about people,” she said. “And I like taking pictures too!”
The exposure to different types of careers in a professional setting serves as an opportunity for students to connect their classroom learning to real-life experiences. Cristo Rey is committed to helping each student acquire the skills that many entry level workers are lacking, including written and verbal communication, setting a new standard in the workplace.
There are 35 schools in the Cristo Rey network. The Oklahoma City school, located on the campus of OSU-OKC, was the 33
rd location to open in the United States and serves only the freshman class. Each year going forward, a new freshman class of 125 students will be added, and the school will eventually serve grades nine through 12, making it the third Catholic high school in the Oklahoma City metro area.
Sally Linhart is a freelance writer for the Sooner Catholic.
Photo: Cristo Rey students meet their supervisors from the Catholic Pastoral Center on draft day. Photo provided.