MEDIA RELEASE / COMMUNITY ALERT
For Immediate Release No. 20230329-019
Wednesday, March 29, 2023
The San Mateo Police Department Partners with ICA Cristo Rey Academy for Student Associate Program
San Mateo, CA - In August 2022, the San Mateo Police Department became the first law enforcement and criminal justice partner in the Corporate Work Study Program (CWSP) at ICA Cristo Rey Academy. The Cristo Rey Network is comprised of 38 high schools across the nation that combine college preparatory education with four years of professional work experience for students with limited economic resources. Students receive the option of working in a variety of professional fields, such as, banking, construction, education, finance, and technology. Each participating partner organization pays approximately $40,000 a school year in exchange for the work of a full-time employee. Four students share a single full time-position by rotating each day of the week. The students are transported to their respective work sites by their school.
At the San Mateo Police Department, all four students are supervised by, Elizabeth “Betsy” Sievert, who works as the Facility Coordinator. At the department, the students perform a variety of tasks including preparing letters for mailing, helping organize community events, working in the records department, and assisting at the front desk. Sievert has managed many interns during her thirty-seven-year career and welcomed the opportunity to supervise the group from ICA Cristo Rey Academy. “This is the first job for a couple of the girls. It is important to teach them the necessary skills to be successful in any work environment, not just at SMPD. It is equally important to make this experience positive and productive. The impression and impact we make on these girls lives on and grows in the minds of the people they tell about the time they spent at the San Mateo Police Department,” said Sievert.
For Chief Barberini this program was about more than helping students gain work experience to add to their college applications and resumes. “None of the students expressed an interest in pursuing law enforcement careers. This program gave us the rare opportunity to interact with young people we normally would not contact. It is a great chance to create a positive and meaningful experience in their lives and for members of the department and the students to learn from each other.”
The students still have almost four months left at the department, but it isn’t too early to call this partnership a success. Although the students work for a participating partner for only one year, all four students said they would return to the department if given the opportunity next year. They may get the chance because the department has agreed to be a participating partner for a second year beginning in August 2023 and ending in June 2024.
MEDIA CONTACT
Alison Gilmore
Public Information Officer | Support Services
City of San Mateo Police Department
200 Franklin Pkwy, San Mateo, CA 94403
650-522-7626 | [email protected]
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