Help wanted: employers for apprenticeship program

The Ozaukee Youth Apprenticeship program, which provides area high school students with paid, part-time job opportunities at local companies, celebrated the graduation of 64 students at its 27th annual event last week.

Growing from nine participants to 110 this year, Coordinator John Duba said, the program has helped students build “real-world skills” and possibly career-long connections in industries such as manufacturing, marketing, agriculture and others.

The program is a collaboration between the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development and a consortium of industry leaders that set standards that students are expected to fulfill by the end of their one or two-year internship, Duba said.

He said the program is about providing students options and then letting them “make their own decisions.”

Duba begins hosting events to explain what the program offers — and expects — from students when they are sophomores.

One of those expectations is that students will complete 450 work-hours for a single year internship or 900 for two years,  while also completing a list of DWD required competencies in the industry.

After completing their apprenticeships, students receive a Certificate of Occupational Proficiency from the DWD, which tells employers that the graduate has verifiable skills in the industry, Duba said.

A few of the things Duba tells prospective applicants is that the program expects commitment, communication and self-advocacy from students, and that apprenticeships are an “investment.”

“We get three sport students and three AP class students,” Duba said, noting it’s up to the students to weigh their priorities between academics, sports and work.

“They have to ask, do they want to think about their future or football and track at this point in their life,” he said.

Jordan Smith, who completed the program two years ago working at Kapco in Grafton as a laser machine operator, said that while he had the same workplace expectations as a regular employee, Kapco allowed some leeway to accommodate his school work schedule.

“They let me come in late and leave early for school. They didn’t force me into the first shift, second shift schedule,” Smith said. “I was able to dedicate some time each day to hammering out my homework.”

During the summer of 2020, Smith said he worked full-time at the company, which allowed him to “work during the pandemic instead of spend the whole summer inside the house.”

Duba said youth apprentices can divvy up their work hours between summer and the school year in cooperation with their employers.

“If they’re too busy during the school-year to complete (the required 450 hours) they can get them in during the summer,” he said.

Along with being in the top 15 of his class and getting a DWD certificate, which  “is a great thing to put on a resume,” Smith said, he received a forklift certificate that enabled him to find a high-paying, part-time manufacturing job while he attends University of Wisconsin Madison.

Smith said a high-point of the job was the universal break time for all employees.

“It was a mix of people from all different backgrounds,” he said, including company veterans and young people like him.

Overall, he said, the apprenticeship provided him  with “better work than most people in high school could probably find.”

Nursing Professional Development Specialist Patti Stockhausen of Aurora Medical Center in Grafton, which has participated in the program since shortly after its opening, said it has been a “great program” for the hospital.

She said many youth apprentices work as nursing assistants and take a summer certified nursing assistant course prior to starting.

“Many go on to nursing school after, and we work with them still,” Stockhausen said. “It’s a nice pipeline to positions here.”

Duba said a job offer for apprentices after completing the program is “not an expectation,” but frequently happens.

“Many youth apprentices will pursue their apprenticeship area in college or at work after high school,” he said.

One former student who is now attending college, Duba said, works remotely part-time for his previous employer.

Additionally, youth apprentices can sometimes bridge into registered apprenticeship programs in skilled trades, an OYA employer guidebook says.

At Aurora, Stockhausen said, the program has helped plug the gaps during an industry-wide nurse shortage.

“We are always in need of nursing assistants,” she said.

Recently, Aurora started its first youth apprentice as a pharmacy tech, while another began in the dietary department, Stockhausen said.

The largest problem facing the program is a need for more Ozaukee County businesses to participate as the numbers of applicants continues to grow, Duba said.

“The more applying, the less that get opportunities,” Duba said. “We are in need of more Ozaukee companies to participate.”

Duba said any company related to the program’s 13 major career clusters that is willing to provide on-the-job training and performance reviews can participate.

“There’s a lot going on,” Duba said. “We are looking at now and into the future.”

Companies or students interested in the program can call OYA at (262) 268-6089 or visit www.ozaukeeya.com.