In late January, Jacob Rios was given a task by his supervisors on the Royals’ creative team. Rios is a sophomore at Cristo Rey Kansas City and one of four interns the Royals mentor through the high school. He was supposed to create a graphic to celebrate National Mentoring Month, highlighting the Royals’ interns from Cristo Rey.

Rios got to work creating, using the Photoshop skills he has learned working alongside Royals associates and other team accounts for inspiration. The Royals Charities account on Twitter tweeted the final product. Rios printed it out to put on his family’s refrigerator.

“It meant so much to me,” Rios said. “This whole opportunity does.”

Royals Charities has long been a partner of Cristo Rey Kansas City -- the high school baseball team practices at the Urban Youth Academy -- but this is the first year the organization has participated in the school’s corporate work-study program, which functions like a temporary employment agency. Teams of four students fill a full-time entry-level position, with each student working five days per month.

Such companies as Commerce Bank, CommunityAmerica Credit Union, Evergy and JE Dunn commit to a fee-for-service contract stating that the money earned by students goes directly toward the cost of education at Cristo Rey Kansas City. Other professional sports teams, including the Astros, are partners in different cities.

A Catholic school that provides college and career prep education, Cristo Rey Kansas City is part of the Cristo Rey Network, which began with its first school in Chicago in 1996 and has expanded to 38 schools around the country.

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Here is where Cristo Rey is different from other college prep schools: All of Cristo Rey’s students are culturally diverse with economic need. The work-study program pays for 40% to 60% of tuition, and the school raises funds to help student costs stay at a minimum.

“Cristo Rey does an amazing job of giving kids the opportunity to go to a business and see what it’s like to be a professional, have the accountability of everyday work life and get them excited about figuring out a career path moving forward,” said Amanda Grosdidier, executive director of Royals Charities. “We proposed it to our ownership and HR department, and they immediately jumped on board, which is awesome to have that support and for them to see how influential it is for the kids.”

The Royals have four interns in their offices: Becky Negus and DeAnthony Stillman work in the community impact department, Luis Ortiz Segura works in guest services, and Rios works with the graphic design team.

“It just shows the commitment to Kansas City from the Royals and especially from [team owner] John Sherman, that they care about educating our youth,” Cristo Rey Kansas City president John O’Connor said. “That, to me, says they know our youth are going to make a huge impact on Kansas City in the future, and they want to give them best opportunity to learn their skills, as well as give them the college prep education they deserve.

“It’s going to make Kansas City a better place.”

There’s a high success rate for those who graduate Cristo Rey, one reason being that it’s a highly selective program with a rigorous school curriculum for a small group of academically talented students. But the school firmly believes there is impact in the work-study program. According to Ted Koppen, Cristo Rey’s director of the corporate work-study program, Cristo Rey’s college persistence rate for low-income students -- the number of students who started college and are still there or have graduated -- is about 60%, significantly better than the national average.

“The question of course is why is that?” Koppen said. “Well, the work-study program is a key part of that. Obviously, you’ve got to have the academics -- that’s the foundation -- but the work-study program gives it relevance and why it’s important to get that higher level degree.”

The program also gives students and companies a networking tool for future opportunities.

“For the companies, it’s a pipeline of diverse talent,” Koppen said. “And it gives their employees the opportunity to mentor and experience firsthand that sense of community.

“For the students, it’s a game changer in seeing what they could become and giving them confidence that they can do it.”

Koppen and his team pair students with the companies they’ll work at for the entire year. Some are paired by interest, some by ability if there’s a job that requires a certain skill, like being comfortable answering the phone and working front desks. Students find out where they’ll work at the beginning of the year and what day they’ll be working. Freshmen go Monday, sophomores on Tuesday, juniors on Wednesday and seniors on Thursday. Classes rotate each Friday, so every class will work one Friday a month.

“I was super excited when I found out I was going to work for the Royals,” Negus said. “I texted my mom right away when I found out. My whole family loves the Royals, and we go to games all the time, so when I found out I was going to work for them, everyone was thrilled I actually got the job.”

On the community impact team, Negus typically helps with administrative work or special projects, such as packaging merchandise to send to a youth team in California. She said she has learned patience and the ability to adapt when things don’t go as planned.

“I think it’s a pretty good thing to take away as a younger student,” Negus said. “I feel like it’s helping learn things that people usually learn in their 20s and 30s. And we’re learning it now as teenagers. I hope it helps me later in life.”