The Jesuit educational tradition reaches back nearly 500 years but one of its Los Angeles schools is making a difference with an innovative approach to preparing its students for success. Verbum Dei High School is a private, all-male, Jesuit-run high school in South Central Los Angeles. It is also the first school in California to create a Corporate Work Study Program (CWSP) for its students.

Corporate Work Study Program in Los Angeles

In CWSP, students earn a salary for their work in entry-level, clerical jobs. Their salaries are applied toward their school tuition. The students, many of whom are from low-income families in Watts and surrounding neighborhoods, also gain employability and exposure to the city’s economic centers.

Archer Norris participates in Verbum Dei’s CWSP and has hired these young high school interns for the past several years. Our support is spearheaded by partner Richard W. (“Rich”) Vanis, Jr. Rich is a long-standing booster of the school and a member on its governing board. In recognition of his commitment, the school presented him with its 2008 Spirit of Verbum Dei Award for his embodiment of its ideals.

From Trial Run to Up and Running

Verbum Dei’s CWSP started in 2002 as a pilot business concept that combined job sharing and employee leasing without compromising the students’ academic achievement.

Four students form a team which is assigned to a participating company. Each student team member works for five days a month in corporations and firms around downtown Los Angeles. The companies have a job spot that is covered every day of the work week and pay the student group a single salary. The salary is then allocated by the school to each student to defray tuition costs. This in turn creates greater access to college for these students.

The program has grown with its tremendous success – it’s popular with the students, Archer Norris and the rest of the corporate sponsors. From sorting and filing, to summarizing depositions, students say they enjoy learning new skills and look forward to arriving at their offices and interacting with their new colleagues.   

Verbum Dei Students Help Archer Norris

At Archer Norris, we were proud to become acquainted with our intern, Pablo Zapotecas. During four years with us, we grew very attached to Pablo, who helped keep us administratively organized and our documents circulating smoothly.

While we miss him, we’re equally as proud that he left us to attend college at St. Benedict/St. John's University in Collegeville, Minnesota.  Our current group of high school interns energizes us with their enthusiasm, work ethic and curiosity, making them a pleasure to work with and an asset to have in our office.

Opportunities like the CWSP are even more important today, as so many families and educational institutions have increasingly strapped budgets. Says Rich, “Archer Norris is vested in the future of the bright young Verbum Dei men, and we sustain our commitment to the meaningful community opportunities the school creates.”