Gaston College in North Carolina now offers the first college or university-sponsored apprenticeship program in the United States approved by the US Department of Labor. The Apprenticeship 321 program is now working with 15 employers in manufacturing and healthcare. Career pathways include paramedic medicine and nursing assistant along with machine operator and industrial electrician.

Read the full article from the Charlotte Business Journal.

The US Department of Labor and the non-profit Project Lead The Way (PLTW) have partnered to launch a pilot youth apprenticeship program in engineering. Kicking off in Charleston, SC, the pilot offers two pathways to meet the needs of students with different career goals. One pathway is referred to as an Engineering Assistant program and is geared toward students who plan to ultimately pursue a four-year engineering degree. The other pathway is referred to as an Engineering Technician program, which is designed for students who prefer an apprenticeship experience that is more hands-on and have the goal to get an associate degree and start their career earlier.

Read the full article here!

The U.S. Dept. of Labor has launched a web resource devoted to High School Apprenticeship that includes the DOL's first High School Apprenticeship Toolkit. This webpage contains a wealth of resources for secondary and postsecondary institutions, workforce development practitioners, school counselors, teachers, parents, and more.  

The toolkit includes:

• A Fact Sheet on High School Apprenticeship
• An Implementation Guide
• Case Studies on Wisconsin’s Youth Apprenticeship program and the Charleston Regional Youth Apprenticeship program
• Resources for practitioners and other stakeholders

Click the following link to access the webpage/toolkit: www.dol.gov/apprenticeship/high-school.

MEATA's 2018 Fall Drive-In Conference took place on Friday, Nov. 9^th, at Lansing Community College's West Campus. The conference theme was "From the Classroom to Career: Michigan Pathways to Apprenticeship" and sessions included:

• Going, Going Pro: a panel discussion of innovative Going Pro grants
• TEALS: Microsoft's Technology Education & Literacy in Schools
• Building Detroit's Future by Bringing Back CTE
• Moving CTE Forward: Michigan's Office of Career & Technical Education

Attendees also had an opportunity to tour LCC's Center for Manufacturing Excellence.

Copies of the presentations are available here.

The U.S. Dept. of Labor has announced launch of Apprenticeship.gov, a website that “delivers on the Task Force on Apprenticeship Expansion’s recommendation to ‘compile apprenticeship information in a single, online, centralized website'.” The website, according to the DOL, "will evolve into a robust one-stop platform to connect job seekers, job creators, training providers, parents, teachers, and federal and local workforce agencies with information and resources to learn more about apprenticeships, how to establish apprenticeship program and how to access open apprenticeship opportunities.” Launch of the site “comes at the one-year anniversary of President Trump’s executive order expanding apprenticeships in America, which directed the US Department of Labor to expand access to apprenticeship opportunities to help more Americans secure family-sustaining jobs.”

Alabama Public Radio recently ran an interview piece that focused entirely on apprenticeship as a pathway to great careers.

Participants included:

•  Nicholas Wyman, CEO of the Institute for Workplace Skills and Innovation
• Ken Hitchcock, Director of the Pickens County Career and Technology Center in Liberty, South Carolina
• Christine Scullion, Director of HR Policy at the National Association of Manufacturing
• Cory McCray, a delegate from the Maryland House of Delegates and a former IBEW electrician apprentice
• Robert Lerman, Urban Institute fellow, founder of the American Institute for Innovative Apprenticeship, and professor emeritus of economics at American University.

Visit APR's site to listen to the interview.