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KeyBank features Work Study Students

Thank you, KeyBank for writing this awesome feature about our Corporate Work Study students!

Saint Martin De Porres: Cleveland’s Cristo Rey High School Mentoring Program

by Andrea Ponzo

Since 2004, Keybank has had the honor of partnering with Saint Martin de Porres, part of Cleveland’s Cristo Rey network of high schools. Their mission is to deliver a career focused, college preparatory education in the Catholic tradition for students with modest means, by uniquely integrating rigorous academic curricula, with four years of professional work experience, and support to and through college.

The program also provides students with funding for tuition and during COVID-19, Cristo Rey supported its students by ensuring that they had meals throughout the course of the pandemic.

Key Team members, Gary Linn (Investment Services), Stacy Bartlett (Corporate Offices), Wendy Kinzel (Mortgage Services), Kelly Lamirand and (Corporate Offices) and Julius Paradise (KTO Document Management) had the privilege of guiding six students from Saint Martin De Porres high school this past April 2023.

At Key, students learn about finance and accounting, customer service, human resources, marketing, technology and legal, all while earning class credit. They report to the office for work once per week and on one Friday every month, and many of them return for repeat assignments each year. Each student gains access to a professional work environment, while learning new skills and performing work that matters.

Tayler (Class of 2023), who has been participating in this program for the last four years stated, “I’ve been at my job for four years and they’re always finding new ways to teach me things that can be useful when banking with Key and all the people that are needed to do specific tasks.” Jahmir (Class of 2023)- “I love the environment and I love the community.”

Wendy Kinzel has had the pleasure of working with one of their standout students in Home Lending, Jahmir, who graduated in May 2023 with academic honors and a full ride to Akron University to study computer science.

“Serving as a mentor to these terrific students has been personally and professionally rewarding and an opportunity to pay it forward, as a way of showing gratitude for those that have poured into me”- Julius Paradise

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