Key Points
- Through multiple efforts in the fall of 2025, the St. Paul Park refinery supported career exploration with students from nearby Humboldt High School through email-based mentoring and in-person learning.
- One effort included a collaboration with Minnesota-based nonprofit BestPrep, pairing 20 refinery employees with 20 Humboldt High School students for an eight-week mentoring experience.
- Separately, the refinery welcomed Humboldt High School welding students for a second year in a row for an onsite visit, offering hands-on exposure to skilled trades and refinery operations.
Not far from Marathon Petroleum’s St. Paul Park refinery sits Humboldt High School, where school leaders are focused on opening the door to new career ideas and real-world opportunities for their students. That mission is one the team at the St. Paul Park refinery has long supported.
In the fall of 2025, that shared focus came to life through a mix of mentoring and in-person career exposure, including a collaboration with BestPrep, a Minnesota-based nonprofit that helps students in grades 4 through 12 become college-prepared, work-ready and career-bound. Through BestPrep’s eMentors program, 20 refinery employees were paired with 20 students for an eight-week online mentoring experience.
Each week, students connected with their Marathon mentors via email, talking through career interests, personal well-being and what it really takes to build strong, collaborative relationships. Those conversations offered practical, real-world insight and helped students better understand the skills they will need to be successful on the job and beyond.
“This program gives us a meaningful way to support students in our community and help them see what is possible for their future,” said Eric Bohnert, Vice President of Refining at the St. Paul Park refinery. “Our employees are proud to share their experiences and help young people build the skills they need to succeed.”
Midway through the eight-week program, students visited the refinery and met their mentors in person. BestPrep leaders say Marathon Petroleum’s involvement helps extend the impact of the experience beyond the mentoring exchange.
Students from Humboldt High School visit with their Marathon Petroleum mentors during an on-site refinery visit as part of the BestPrep program.
“Partnerships like this help students develop confidence and communication skills while introducing them to real-world opportunities,” said Jason Sanders, President and CEO at BestPrep. “When caring professionals take the time to guide them, it broadens their sense of what is possible.”
The refinery also welcomed students from the school’s welding program for a separate onsite visit focused on skilled trades. The day began with a safety overview before employees guided students through the Maintenance Shops, where students got an up-close look at welding, electrical work, rotating equipment, instrumentation and heavy equipment.
"This program gives us a meaningful way to support students in our community and help them see what is possible for their future.”
“The best part of this experience for me was the energy these students brought with them this year. It was unbelievable,” said Mason Bahl, a welder at the St. Paul Park refinery who helped support the visit. “You could feel their enthusiasm from the moment they walked in. Their curiosity and the questions they asked made it clear they were really imagining what their future could look like.”
That excitement, Bahl said, has continued to grow since the refinery first welcomed the school’s welding students the previous year. More students expressed interest in taking part in the 2025 visit than the refinery could accommodate.
“That tells us something powerful. What we’re doing matters,” Bahl added. “These students aren’t just curious about welding or similar trades. They’re curious about what we do and the wide range of careers we offer at Marathon. We had the chance to show them what’s possible, and you could see it click. They realized, ‘I could do this. I could be here.’”
The visit concluded with a stop at the refinery firehall, where students learned about emergency response equipment, followed by lunch and a question-and-answer session. During the discussion, students asked employees about their roles, training and career paths.
