Community Service 2008 Company of the Week

July 1 , 2008

Webster Financial Corporation.

More than 35 employees from Connecticut-based Webster Financial Corp. (NYSE: WBS) recently stepped into the role of middle school teachers in an inner city school in Hartford, Conn., to help teach 6th, 7th and 8th graders the values of free enterprise, business and economics

Webster sponsored the May 6 event at Dr. Joseph J. Bellizzi Middle School that involved teaching more than 500 11-, 12-, and 13-year-old students a curriculum designed by Junior Achievement (JA).

Each grade was taught a different JA program, with sixth graders and bilingual classes participating in “JA It’s my Business,” emphasizing entrepreneurship while providing a focus on social studies, reading, and writing skills, and seventh graders receiving the “JA Global Marketplace,” covering the global economy. Eighth graders received “JA Economics for Success,” focusing on personal finance, education and career options.

Lou Golden, president of Junior Achievement of Southwest New England in Hartford, said JA requires that its courses be taught by volunteers instead of teachers. “We believe that it is much more powerful when a volunteer from the community comes in and spends time with the students and delivers the curriculum because there is a wonderful magic that happens between the kids and the volunteer,” Golden said.

Congratulations to Webster Financial Corp!

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