Connecting High Schoolers to Apprenticeships

Each spring, inspiring stories about local high school seniors headed for the Ivy League pop up in newspapers across the country. A story last May in Wisconsin’s Waunakee Tribune about Sophia Liu’s acceptance to Columbia University was like many of these hometown stories, listing well-earned honors as a high-performing student, swimmer and editor of the school newspaper.

But there was something else that stood out: Sophia was a youth apprentice.

During her junior year of high school, Sophia started the two-year biomedical youth apprenticeship program in a science laboratory at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. By the end, she completed 900 hours of paid work experience as a lab technician. She also completed four semesters of related classroom-based instruction, learning about concepts to help her on the job.

The two-year program was a commitment for Sophia and a commitment for her employer. This year, there are 22 other youth apprentices in the biotech youth apprenticeship spread across labs at the university. For the employers, the commitment of an apprenticeship makes it worthwhile. As Professor Brian Fox, a biochemist, put it, “We like the commitment of having them for two years. It takes them a year to build some experience. But by the second year, they can be quite productive. … Our field is all about training — post-docs, grad students, college students. Why stop there?"

But what are they being trained for?

Read the full article here.

Reprinted with permission from the August 2018 issue of School Administrator magazine, published by AASA, The School Superintendents Association.