{"id":152777,"date":"2024-08-16T08:35:14","date_gmt":"2024-08-16T12:35:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/?p=152777"},"modified":"2024-08-19T11:19:46","modified_gmt":"2024-08-19T15:19:46","slug":"lake-campus-collaborates-with-mercer-county-schools-on-pre-apprenticeship-program-for-high-school-students","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/2024\/08\/16\/lake-campus-collaborates-with-mercer-county-schools-on-pre-apprenticeship-program-for-high-school-students\/","title":{"rendered":"Lake Campus collaborates with Mercer County schools on pre-apprenticeship program for high school students"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Brayden Pavelka participated in a pilot pre-apprenticeship program offered by the Workforce Development and Business Enterprise Center at Wright State\u2019s Lake Campus and the Mercer County Educational Service Center.<\/p><\/div>\n

A collaborative effort between the Wright State University\u2013Lake Campus and Mercer County schools seeks to forge a path for high school students to work at a local company while receiving specialized training through a newly established pre-apprenticeship program.<\/p>\n

In the summer of 2023, the Lake Campus\u2019 Workforce Development and Business Enterprise Center and the Mercer County Educational Service Center identified the need to collaborate on a \u201cLearn to Earn\u201d pilot pre-apprenticeship program.<\/p>\n

Both centers were aware of the value of these work-based learning opportunities and wanted to bring this component to Mercer County students, said Sandi Holdheide, career navigator at the Mercer County Educational Service Center.<\/p>\n

Ohio Lt. Gov. Jon Husted unveiled his \u201cFind Your Career Pathway\u201d initiative in 2023 and all but the pre-apprenticeship area of the initiative was available to Mercer County students. The Mercer County Business Advisory Council also received a Good Jobs Challenge award to provide financial support to workforce training programs in the region.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe goal is to create an opportunity for students to experience real-world manufacturing at a partnering industry while earning credit for a pre-apprenticeship, providing a pathway for those students who missed the opportunity to enroll in Tri Star or career technical education or a work-based learning\/release program,\u201d said Holdheide.<\/p>\n

The collaboration started with a small pilot group to ensure that schools and businesses could work together to provide the learning outcomes defined by the experience. The Educational Service Center works with the schools to identify candidates for the program based on their career goals and academic backgrounds and pairs them with businesses.<\/p>\n

Brayden Pavelka, a 2024 Marion Local High School graduate, was the initial entrant in the program. He didn\u2019t envision attending college following high school, so he was intrigued by the pre-apprenticeship option.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis program was extremely beneficial since it helped me get a good feel for the workforce before I really even started,\u201d said Pavelka. \u201cAlso, I was able to work as part of school and do something I enjoyed while also getting paid for it. Lastly, it was nice because it gave me a fairly easy entry into the workplace.\u201d<\/p>\n

During his training at the Workforce Development and Business Enterprise Center at Lake Campus, Pavelka learned how to properly use tools, was taught how to do basic and advanced measurements using math skills and was offered advice and information from instructors with real-world experience.<\/p>\n

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Brayden Pavelka received specialized training at Lake Campus\u2019s Workforce Development and Business Enterprise Center to prepare him for a career in manufacturing.<\/p><\/div>\n

The center was established to expand Wright State\u2019s advanced manufacturing and robotics programs and offer more credentials, certificates and apprenticeship opportunities. It also provides comprehensive counseling and management training to new and existing businesses in the region by promoting and supporting entrepreneurs with experienced business consultants.<\/p>\n

Pavelka\u2019s work assignment was at Pax Machine Works, a precision metal stamper primarily for the automotive industry, where he remains as a full-time quality assurance inspector. He began his apprenticeship in January and performed a variety of tasks including assisting with die changes and assembly of spray lubrication systems.<\/p>\n

\u201cPax was interested in participating in this program to provide students with an opportunity to engage in hands-on, real-life work experiences,\u201d said Jeff Pax, administrative manager. \u201cWith this being the first iteration of the pre-apprenticeship program, we were fortunate to be able to develop and tweak the program as we went. I feel that programs going forward will continue to get better and better.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pax said his company will continue to participate in the program because he believes it provides an ideal connection between manufacturing and academics.<\/p>\n

Tammy Eilerman, the director of the Workforce Development and Business Enterprise Center, said six students will participate in the program during the 2024-25 academic year. In the future, plans include branching out to include the fields of agriculture and health care.<\/p>\n

Eilerman\u2019s knowledge of work-based learning programs and connecting the Mercer County Educational Service Center Business Advisory Council to the Good Jobs Challenge award was vital to getting the program off the ground, said Holdheide.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Earn and Learn Pre-Apprenticeship truly highlights the partnerships that exist between high schools, Lake Campus and businesses,” she said. \u201cBy working together and along with the Mercer County Economic and Community Development Office, the pre-apprenticeship fulfills the goal of connecting local talent to in-demand jobs in the area.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Wright State’s Lake Campus and the Mercer County Educational Service Center are working together to help high school students work at a local company while receiving specialized training. Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":72,"featured_media":152809,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[722,725,731,715],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-152777","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academics","category-home-news-sidebar","category-lake-campus","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152777","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/72"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=152777"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152777\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":152882,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152777\/revisions\/152882"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/152809"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=152777"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=152777"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=152777"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}