The Connection

When I was a teenager, I had to work, and during that critical junior year of high school, when everyone was focused on getting into college, I was working full-time. I would come home exhausted around midnight and wake up at 4AM to try to do my homework before commuting over an hour to school. I knew I needed good grades to make my life better, but I was just so tired. And when my teachers told me that my assignment, the thing holding back my future, was to graph imaginary numbers, I nearly lost it. How, I wondered, could this possibly be the best use of my time?

K-12 education often struggles to engage students like me. It struggles because it is hard to see how learning is relevant. It struggles because “learning” puts itself in direct competition with the work required to pay for food, clothing, and shelter, and when it comes down to it, you can’t learn without those things. It doesn’t have to be this way though. It is possible to integrate real work into the K-12 system.

Bringing Back the Apprenticeship

What If…

Students could apply the skills they have learned in school at work, while getting paid for adding real value to companies within their local communities?

Then…

  1. Engagement: students would see the direct connection between what they are learning and how it will support their future dreams.

  2. Health: students would not need to combat the exhaustion associated with working full time while in high school, and could meaningfully explore their studies.

  3. Debt: students would have the opportunity to earn college and industry certifications debt free

  4. Workforce Development: local companies would have a pipeline of local talent with the skills required to make their businesses thrive

Not a Pipedream

Careerwise Colorado is already making this happen, modeling a solution after the Swiss system

  • They have worked with local school districts to ensure that high school credit requirements are met while students spend time offsite at apprenticeships.

  • They have partnered with local businesses to offer students a professional network and design apprenticeship opportunities in the fields of advanced manufacturing, information technology, financial services, business operations, healthcare, and education.

  • They have partnered with industry associations to be able to offer nationally-recognized industry certifications

  • They have partnered with local colleges to offer students the opportunity to earn debt-free college credit

  • They have designed a model that benefits participating companies, offering a positive ROI based on the value of apprentices’ work, reduced turnover costs and a talent pipeline of skilled and loyal workers

Interested in bringing a solution like this to your community?