Salem High School

Salem, Missouri

Teacher: John Hendricks

 

 

 

Apprenticeships: Game Plan For the Future

By Amanda Harlow

 

Youth apprenticeships provide students with a unique opportunity to begin  their preparation for a career while still attending high school. Apprenticeship is a combination of on-the-job training and related classroom instruction in which students learn the practical and theoretical aspects of a highly skilled occupation.  Interest in the youth apprenticeship program arose with the increase in the weaknesses of U.S. education. Students who were not interested in college would drift from one unskilled job to another, acquiring no skills, and conversing mainly with other young, unskilled people. This system is a waste of time that delays maturity and only offers haphazard training, which in most cases, does not result in any recognized credentials or certification.

           

The Wisconsin Youth Apprenticeship is a program that was authorized in 1991 and includes school-based learning, work-based learning, and connecting activities. I believe that this is a good program because it begins the apprenticeship in the 9th grade. At this age level, many students need guidance in order to focus in a positive direction. This type of program answers that need. 

           

Under the school-based learning component., students are required to enroll in four semester long, competency-based technical courses and complete a curriculum map to ensure scheduling of all required courses and credits for high school graduation.

           

The work-based learning component requires students to complete nine hundred hours of supervised work experience over the course of two years. This program also provides work site mentors with mentor training workshops. This ensures that each student is provided with sufficient training from their mentors. Students who complete the Wisconsin Youth Apprenticeship program receive an industry-recognized Certificate of Occupational Proficiency from the State of Wisconsin. The apprentices are rotated throughout the business, paid at least minimum wage, and are offered a flexible work schedule to allow the students to remain participants in extra-curricular activities, such as sports.  The connecting activities component provides students who have completed the program, with three to twelve credits of advanced standing in a technical college degree program. The apprentice, their parents, school representative, and employer representative must sign an Education Training Agreement stating that all rules will be abided by.  Individual progress conferences are also held each semester to ensure communication among the apprentices and all of the participants.

           

It is my opinion that the State of Missouri should adopt an apprentice program similar to that of the Wisconsin Youth Apprenticeship program. To be eligible for admission to this program, students must be juniors in high school and must have participated in career planning activities over the past two years. I believe that this requirement will allow the students who are truly interested in the school-to-work program a chance to excel and it will prevent the students who are underachievers to just get out of school early. 

           

Students who participate in this program are offered career exploration opportunities, entry level technical skills, a network of future business contacts, as well as a high school diploma.  I feel that this program has many positive aspects to it. It allows students to receive skills training needed for future career plans that normally would not be available. This program also encourages non-college-bound teenagers to attend by providing credits at a technical college along with the completion of their apprenticeship. This gives them a “jump start” which might be crucial to less-motivated students. I believe that by allowing students to participate in this youth apprenticeship, they will gain a sense of real pride and self-worth that they may not feel in the high school environment.

           

The Wisconsin Youth Apprenticeship program does have a few drawbacks. Like most apprenticeship programs, employers fear that they would be in violation of the child labor laws and hazardous-work orders. Employers are also apprehensive about employing teenagers due to the belief that their maturity level is not satisfactory and, therefore, most prefer college graduates.

           

However, the Wisconsin Youth Apprenticeship program’s positive attributes out number the negative aspects. High school students who are otherwise excluded from the college-prep track are offered many highly accredited opportunities. It provides other avenues to prepare them for the future while still focusing on the present. This program also brings schools and local businesses together in working relationships, which forms a closely-knit community. I believe that this apprenticeship helps bring a strong sense of reality to those non-college-bound students and provides the training that will be needed in their future careers. A more subtle far-reaching benefit may be gained from the guidance and experience of their mentor.  Students who participate will gain the pride and maturity they will need to succeed in the world and jobs of tomorrow.   [Back]