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- Milwaukee Bucks mascot, Bango greets the students before the program begins.
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- Cristo Rey students file onto the Milwaukee Bucks court.
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- Executives and representatives from 58 local partnering companies applaud as the students enter the arena.
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- Paul Eberle, deputy CEO of Husch Blackwell and Cristo Rey board chair presents opening remarks.
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- Rogers Behavioral Health employs the largest student team of 20.
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- Fr. Bill Johnson, vice president at Cristo Rey Jesuit High School and Paul Eberle, deputy CEO of Husch Blackwell and Cristo Rey board chair.
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- Bernie Sherry, senior vice president of Ascension Health and Eric Rhodes, COO of Ascension Health, and Patti Wrobel and Laura Schnicke, both of United Performing Arts Fund.
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- Tarajee Rucker and Darby Slade, both of Johnson Controls.
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- Patti Blaszczy, principal of Prince of Peace School of Milwaukee and Don Drees, president of Seton Catholic Schools.
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- Caralyn Court of Associated Bank and Toni Hendrickson, senior vice president at Associated Bank.
The BMO Harris Bradley Center buzzed with loud music and fanfare this morning as 332 students from Cristo Rey Jesuit High School stepped on to the Milwaukee Bucks basketball court and were greeted by executives from 58 top local companies, kicking off the school’s third annual Corporate Work Study Program Draft Day.
The program pairs these organizations with groups of students who work at the company throughout the school year, collectively fulfilling the role of a full-time employee. Each student works at their assigned company for 5 full work days each month.
Partner organizations include Northwestern Mutual, Froedtert Health, Marquette University, SHARP Literacy Inc., and Godfrey & Kahn S.C. Among this year’s new partners are Kohl’s, Rockwell Automation and Harley Davidson.
“The mission of Cristo Rey is to provide rigorous academics, professional work experience and spiritual development to empower graduates to succeed in college and in life,” Paul Eberle, CEO of Husch Blackwell and the Cristo Rey board chair said. “It is a life-changing mission that we celebrate and it is a life-changing mission that begins today with our draft.”
Organization leaders and executives welcomed their new student-employees in professional sports draft-style–exchanging handshakes in front of the student body, staff and families, presenting company apparel and posing for a photo with the student teams.
Milwaukee’s Cristo Rey Jesuit High School is the 29th of its kind in the country and opened with its first class of freshman in the fall of 2015.
