Cristo Rey De La Salle High School’s work study program is helping Bay Area students explore various careers to get a head start on their futures.

The Lasallian high school located in Oakland's Fruitvale neighborhood educates students of limited economic means “to become men and women of faith, purpose and service,” according to Steffany Dignum, director of business development for the school.

“We pair a rigorous, personalized college-prep curriculum with a real corporate work experience, so every graduate leaves prepared to succeed in college and in life,” Dignum said of the school’s approach.

Approximately 264 students and more than 70 companies and organizations in the greater Bay Area region currently participate in the Cristo Rey De La Salle East Bay Work Study Program, including some based in the Tri-Valley such as St. Isidore School in Danville and Hacienda tech company STN Inc. in Pleasanton.

“At St. Isidore, our student associates work as teacher assistants and support the front desk and reception, getting hands-on experience in education and administration while directly supporting the school's day-to-day operations,” Dignum said. “At STN, our students are placed across Logistics, Engineering, and Customer Success, giving them exposure to real business functions most high schoolers never see until college internships, if then.”

Dignum added that STN – located at 4464 Willow Road in Hacienda – has gone a step further, naming Cristo Rey De La Salle (CRDLS) the beneficiary of the company’s annual golf tournament this past year.

“These partnerships are exactly the kind of relationship we want to grow in the Hacienda/Pleasanton area. Local businesses and schools get reliable, motivated student talent, and our students get a running start on their careers,” Dignum said.

At CRDLS, every student works one day a week throughout all four years of high school, as part of a team of students sharing a single full-time, entry-level position at a partner company.

Through a special contract with the Department of Labor, CRDLS acts as the employer of record; students are legal employees, earning a substantial share of their own tuition while getting real workplace experience.

“Four years in the workplace, one day a week, adds up to a level of skill-building and professional relationship most adults don't get until years into a career,” Dignum said.

Citing the program’s partnership with PG&E, Dignum highlighted how building trust within these companies can lead students to more long-term opportunities.

“We had a student placed there who was so well supported by their work-study supervisor that it shaped their entire trajectory; they went on to be hired full-time by PG&E after finishing college, and today they're supervising Cristo Rey student teams there themselves,” she said. “That's what community investment actually buys: not just a diploma, but a mentorship relationship that can carry a student from their first day of work at 14 all the way into their own career, and then back around to lifting up the next student.”

“In a real sense, every partnership we build is planting seeds of local talent, students who grow up in the East Bay and Tri-Valley, train in local businesses, and often end up staying to build their careers right here in the community that invested in them,” Dignum added.

Corporate work-study revenue is a vital and growing share of how CRDLS funds each student's education, alongside the generosity of individual and foundation donors, according to Dignum.

Every new partner company means more students placed, more tuition covered and more early career exposure that shapes a student's whole trajectory.

The school’s Partners in Possibility Gala – which is set for March 6, 2027 – is its flagship special event, and sponsorship opportunities are currently open for businesses that want to get involved at that level.

CRDLS is also actively growing its angel funder program for donors and companies to sponsor a student team placed at a nonprofit host site, which allows the school to extend the work study program model to partners who can't take on a paid student team directly.

More information about Cristo Rey De La Salle and its work study program is available at www.cristoreydelasalle.org/corporate-work-study-program.