More than 30 stakeholders attended a Sherburne County Community Partners meeting Wednesday at Lupulin Brewery in Big Lake and learned about a number of programs that are helping people in the community.

 

One presentation was given by Mark Lee, work-based learning  coordinator with Wright Technical Center, who spoke about the Minnesota Youth Apprenticeship Program.

 

He said the program goes back to the 1970s, but was discontinued a few years back. Wright Technical Center revived their program three years ago, and is helping students learn new pathways to future careers.

 

Students first attend classes at WTC as electives from their own high school. Lee said WTC works with about 10 area schools.

 

“Students go there for about a third of their day in their junior and senior year.

 

We teach things like construction, welding, health care careers, law enforcement, auto body... with the goal of exposing students to some of these careers  before they leave high school,” he said.

 

The classes prepare students for something they’re interested in - or thinks they’d like to have as a career.

 

“We tell students a lot who take this class, when you’re done, you’ll probably know if you have more interest in it, or you might not,” he said. “And that’s okay. That’s part of career exploration.”

 

The Youth Apprenticeship program is a 450-hour paid apprenticeship at an actual business.

 

 

Lee says they tell employers that the students may not be worth every penny they’re being paid in the beginning, but they’ve got to look at the experience as a long-term  investment.

 

The program has an age exemption that allows 16-year olds to work. Another important part of the program is having an on-site mentor, which helps the students get familiar with the job and working with others.

 

“They start working on people skills. They can ask questions,” said Lee. “Students also getting involved with adults who are working in jobs they want to do. They’re able to pick their brains a bit about how they got their job.”

 

The program focuses on teaching students skills they need and the industry demands.

 

Lee says employers know best what those skills are, and they like the idea of training new employees they way they want to.

 

Students also learn about other career opportunities in the same environment.

 

“We make sure they get exposure to the different careers out there,” he said. “They don’t come in and do one department and one job. They get to move around and learn what different departments are doing.”

 

Lee says as the average age of employees continues to grow, more and more skilled workers are retiring. The apprenticeship program gives employers the opportunity to build a pool of future employees the fill those positions. 

 

“They have a lot of knowledge to pass along to someone else,” he said.

 

Since the program was relaunched three years ago, it has continued to grow.

 

The first year, eight students were place. That number grew to 25 last year and has reached 35 today.

 

Lee said the program benefits everyone. Employers get to fill a labor shortage. Students learn new skills and get to explore different careers. Schools get to move students into a wider variety of careers.

 

“We’re getting kids into those industries where they probably haven’t had a lot of exposure,” said Lee. It’s something that’s really growing.”