Salem High School

Salem, Missouri

Teacher: John Hendricks

 

Youth Apprenticeship: A Jumpstart on the Road to the Future

By Ross Day

 

Youth apprenticeship should be used as a tool to prepare and guide students into higher education. Traditional registered apprentices are working towards a career, but youth apprenticeships lack the time to fully prepare the apprentice. A youth apprenticeship program should be developed that will prepare students to enter college to continue their education in the chosen area. Preparing a student for college rather than the workplace should be the goal of a youth apprenticeship program. 

           

A good apprenticeship program would be very flexible for the many differing schedules and needs of modern high school students. While some students are ready to make a commitment to the apprenticeship after only two years in high school, the option to start the program should be available to students in their third or fourth year. The maximum commitment in such a program would involve the student working as an apprentice during the summers following his or her sophomore, junior, and senior years in high school.  Additionally, the student would continue the apprenticeship throughout the year by attending school for only half of each day.  The apprentices would receive elective credits for their work in the program in order to fulfill their graduation requirements. Grades could be given based on reports by the sponsoring business. With the maximum commitment, the program would provide the students with close to twenty-seven months of on-site training as an apprentice along with their high school diploma.

           

As previously mentioned, many options should be available to the students wishing to participate in the program. If they do make the maximum the commitment, they could start the program at any time. After the third year in high school, the student could start an apprenticeship during the summer and continue it through his or her senior year and the following summer. The student would still receive approximately fifteen months of on-site training. Even a student entering the program at the beginning of the final year would work for a whole year. The option to enter program would be available as late as halfway through the senior year. After seven semesters, most students have earned enough credits that they could work as an apprentice full-time. The elective credit earned as an apprentice would allow them to graduate without taking any classes the final semester.  An apprenticeship program with such flexibility would be more accessible to a broader range of students. A program with an inflexible timetable would be more restricting and less popular.

           

For a youth apprenticeship program to properly prepare a student to enter college, it should provide advantages to the apprentices. If the program is widespread, colleges and universities might give automatic acceptance to those students that participate in the program. Scholarships could also be made available to the students based on the length of their apprenticeship and their performance. Even without automatic acceptance or scholarships, the youth apprenticeship would definitely be a highlight on a student’s academic resume. Such an experience would undoubtedly increase a student’s chances of being accepted into the higher education program of their choice.  The apprentices would also be more likely to receive scholarships or other forms of financial aid because of the experience. Also, the students would earn money for working as an apprentice.  Finally, one to two years of on-site training and education would give a student a jumpstart in college. Overall, the youth apprentices would gain experience, training, money, and expanded opportunities for higher education.

           

Disadvantages are inevitable in any plan. For a youth apprenticeship program, the disadvantages would be the lost experiences from high school. A student participating in the program would take fewer classes. Although the participants would graduate from high school with the rest of their class, they would miss out on the opportunity to take classes beyond the graduation requirements. They might also miss out on the many social experiences in high school. The social effect on the apprentices would be very small.  The amount of time spent working would take away from more than social life. The student’s academic performance might also suffer. With less time to study, a student who is not particularly strong academically may experience a decrease in his or her grades. Due to this possibility, determination, work ethic, and academic ability might be considered when deciding whether or not to accept a student into the program.

           

For most students, the advantages of the youth apprenticeship program would outweigh the disadvantages. The program would provide them with invaluable experience and training in the field of their choice. They would benefit from expanded opportunities for furthering their education, and they would earn some extra money to put towards that education. The youth apprenticeships would prepare students to enter college and major in a field in which they are interested and knowledgeable. The jumpstart into college provided by the apprenticeship may be exactly what some students need to jumpstart their lives.                         [Back]