The Times Herald (Norristown, PA)
Panel shines light on value of apprenticeship
NORRISTOWN » Business professionals across the Greater Philadelphia area discussed needed resources for young people Tuesday morning during National Apprenticeship Week.
The Pathways to Registered Apprenticeship and the Careers of Tomorrow for Youth and Young Adults included participation from employers, parents, students and other stakeholders, according to Regional Apprenticeship Coordinator Adina Tayar.
The conversation throughout the hour-long virtual panel surrounded apprenticeship programs in Bucks and Montgomery counties.
In its eighth year, National Apprenticeship Week continues through Nov. 20, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.
Apprenticeship can involve a paid job, classroom training, earned credentials, mentoring, a paid job, or on-the-job training, according to Danielle Demirovic, pre-apprenticeship manager for the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry’s Apprenticeship and Training Office.
“It is really all about …helping people understand different pathways, different industries, and as much as possible, get a taste for them, an introduction to them and information about them to make the decisions moving forward,” Tayar said.
Tayar, who emceed Tuesday’s event, stressed how apprenticeships are available throughout a “diverse range of industries” including advanced manufacturing, biotechnology, construction, cybersecurity, engineering, financial services, health care, hospitality, information technology, transportation, and telecommunications.
In Montgomery County, resources are being provided through the Montgomery County Intermediate Unit’s MontcoWorks NOW program.
“We want to ensure that our students have as many workbased learning experiences as possible so they can make an informed decision on what they want to pursue when they leave high school,” said Daniel Chominski, program administrator for college and career readiness.
“To do that, we have to have systems in place to provide for internships, job shadows, industry tours, cooperative education, career mentoring.”
Chominski spoke to an initiative aimed at giving up to 100 Montgomery County high school students an inside look at postgraduate industry employment opportunities.
A $118,007 grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industries’ Business Education Partnership helped fund the program for eligible students at Abington, Norristown Area, North Penn, and Upper Perkiomen high schools.
Chominski told MediaNews Group in an interview earlier this year the agency also plans to utilize “tool kits and templates for those businesses and industries to use so they can better deliver work-based learning experiences in the form of industry tours, and in the form of job shadowing experiences.”
Chominski spotlighted Cheltenham, North Penn and Souderton high schools for their efforts on providing students with those needed work-based learning experiences.
The agency is also under the umbrella of MontcoWorks, Montgomery County’s career services agency. Jane Stein, research and performance officer for the workforce development board, highlighted assistance opportunities for area residents as well as the noted Careers of Tomorrow career fair that took place last month.
At Montgomery County Community College, Kyle Longacre, dean of workforce and economic development, gave attendees an inside look at a future pilot initiative: The MontcoWorks Apprenticeship Program (MAP).
The two-year program would focus on industrial mechanics, according to Longacre, who said he’d like to have it replicated to other subject areas such as information technology.
Students ages 18 years and older are eligible to apply. Once the community college receives state approval, Longacre said that students who complete the program would receive 36 credits, which could be put “toward an associate degree in applied sciences,” as well as a “journeywork credential,” helping with a “family
sustaining wage in our local communities.”
Longacre stressed that mentorship is “a critical component” to the program.
“We are happy to be part of this national celebration, and with MAP and with the urgency of MontcoWorks NOW, and the good work that’s been done there in terms of bringing work-based learning opportunities, we join in strongly in that national conversation, and represent Montgomery County and the southeastern Pennsylvania region as a strong foundation for economic development,” Longacre said.
And in Bucks County, the local community college has pre-apprenticeship programs in metal work and industrial maintenance, with an anticipated launch of a building and construction trades pre-apprenticeship program in spring 2023, according to Sue Herring, executive director of workforce development at Bucks County Community College.
Along with programs, the key professionals stressed throughout Tuesday’s event how an apprenticeship can help a person determine if that field is something of interest … or not.
“I think we all in our generations have stories about the paths that we took, and what we would have done differently, and a lot of this is based on data and opportunity, and what we can create for our residents and our counties,” Tayar said.