Signing Days Are for Youth Apprentices, Too

A new kind of signing day is here—one that celebrates students jumpstarting their careers through youth apprenticeship. In a room of parents, employers, and high schoolers buzzing with excitement, young people sit down at tables where a letter of intent waits for their signature, a commitment not to a sports team or university, but to a career in a skilled trade or professional field.

Instead of focusing on college acceptances or athletic scholarships, these signing days recognize students pursuing apprenticeship pathways in industries ranging from traditional skilled trades to high-demand fields such as health care, information technology, education, logistics, and advanced manufacturing. Apprenticeship pathways combine paid, hands-on experience with postsecondary coursework that is directly aligned to students’ chosen career path.

When the community gathers for a signing day, the celebration itself carries a powerful message about the value of apprenticeship and the shared commitment of families, employers, and community partners to support young people in building stable, meaningful careers. Guest speakers emphasize the dignity of industry-specific training and lift up apprenticeships as a clear path to family-sustaining wages. The formality of the celebration reinforces the significance of the commitment students are making. The excitement of signing day stems not only from the ceremony itself but also from the months of preparation each student undertakes to secure their apprenticeship offer.

Students must explore opportunities with potential employers, prepare a resume, interview, and be formally hired, balancing their new role with high school and other commitments. It’s a competitive process for both the student and the employer, who will work together for the long term. Unlike athletic recruitment, which seeks top performers nationwide, youth apprenticeship programs and employers recruit locally to prepare students for careers in high-demand industries within their regions. This model is a win-win: Employers facing labor shortages can build a strong workforce pipeline by training individuals to become highly skilled in their industry, while youth benefit from the earn-and-learn model—gaining hands-on experience, building professional connections, and often attaining college credits and industry credentials, all while earning a paycheck.

High-quality youth apprenticeship programs, aligned with the PAYA definition and principles, continue to provide a launchpad for student success—preparing young people for meaningful careers while fostering the maturity and dedication needed to thrive in demanding roles. With continued and new support from employers and the community, these programs are poised to expand and reach even more students.

Employer and intermediary investment and mentorship are front and center on signing day, signaling their commitment to the apprentice’s future. The celebration is often the start of a mentor relationship between the apprentice and their supervisor. Employers range from major companies like Accenture, Amazon, and Mercedes to small businesses taking on a handful of apprentices each year. During a July event at Say Yes Buffalo, one of the youth apprentices fell ill and couldn’t make it to their celebration day. The employer still attended, demonstrating strong support. The event underscored the camaraderie among employers and their dedication to the apprenticeship model.

Intermediaries also play a vital role in organizing and celebrating signing day, and in the youth apprenticeship ecosystem overall. Local and organizational celebrations are a perfect example. The twelfth annual Signing Day for Charleston Regional Youth Apprenticeships at Trident Technical College (TTC) on July 29, 2025, honored 130 youth apprentices signing with 52 employers across the tri-county area and drew nearly 500 attendees for the breakfast, program, and panel discussion. As a national PAYA partner, TTC’s model has become the gold standard for regional youth apprenticeships. National organizations like SkillsUSA also play a critical role—their National Signing Days in chapters across the United States honor more than 3,500 students each year, with that number expected to grow. These events celebrate students committing to skilled work, apprenticeships, certificates, or college programs in the skilled trades.

For many students, intermediary staff are the first people they meet on this journey and remain a key source of guidance and encouragement all the way through to completion. Their presence on signing day shows the apprentice, parent, and community that they are all in on apprenticeship.

The most powerful voices at these events come from past youth apprentices. Jubei Brown-Weaver, now a full-time employee as a Packaged App Developer at Accenture, recently spoke at a celebration for CityWorks DC apprentice graduates, telling his own story. While in high school, he thought college wasn’t the right fit and was unsure about his next step after graduation. When he learned about a youth apprenticeship program through his guidance counselor, he knew he’d found his path. In his own words, “The apprenticeship program was the opportunity of a lifetime: a perfect combination of hands-on learning with a paid opportunity.”

His story is just one of many that showcase how an apprenticeship can impact a young person by setting them up for economic and career success. Youth voices are key to promoting youth apprenticeship to the community at large and, especially, future cohorts of apprentices. As apprentices only make up 1 percent of the workforce, most youth and adults may not have met someone who is a model for what an apprenticeship offers in both the short term and the long term. Stories like Jubei’s show the impact of youth apprenticeships on individual lives and help illustrate why signing days and apprenticeship programs are expanding across the country.

Signing days are more than a local celebration—they are a symbol of a growing national movement to recognize and expand youth apprenticeship. From the U.S. Department of Labor’s first Youth Apprenticeship Week in 2024 that included signing day events, to the current administration’s goal to reach one million apprentices, the momentum around these events and youth apprenticeship as a whole reflects increasing investment in preparing the next generation of skilled workers.

As signing days multiply, they amplify the voices of youth, employers, and intermediaries alike, showcasing the successes of apprentices and the communities that support them. Each event, whether in a classroom, a local college, or across multiple states, highlights the promise of apprenticeship pathways and inspires new cohorts of students to explore meaningful and in-demand career pathways.