“Professionals are connecting with our students to help and support them to understand more about various career fields,” said Joe Muhlberg, assistant principal at Fairfield High School.
Some students have already been offered internships and jobs with a half-dozen participating businesses, said Muhlberg.
And the program is expanding, he said, as more counselors at the high school are making visits and developing relationships with local businesses and industries to learn about possible job and career opportunities they may then pass on to the students they counsel.
“It’s powerful to partner with local business partners to help students to see they have something worthy to contribute to society and that they can be begin taking those intentional steps now,” said Muhlberg.
The Pre-Apprenticeship Program, said Fairfield Schools Spokeswoman Gina Gentry-Fletcher, is the latest in series of efforts by the 10,000-student school system to better equip students who are planning to attend college after graduation.
“Fairfield High School launched the initiative at the end of last school year and a very enthusiastic Joe Muhlberg has made it his mission to match students interested in pursuing a trade after graduation with a local business,” said Gentry-Fletcher.
“From Performance Automotive and Schneider Electric, to Mercy Health and a welders’ union, the list of interested participants is growing. It’s a great program that fills a void for students who want to take a different path after high school,” she said.
Don Riley, automotive technician retention specialist at Performance Technician Academy, described the program as “an incredible experience for us.”
“It’s been the first time we’ve been able to take a (student) relationship to this level,” said Riley.
“We currently have five students through our contact with the high school that we have brought over to our business and they are now working as technicians in our shop.”
“It’s exciting to see the level of interest the students have. We bring kids in who have no experience and probably have never seen the bottom of a car before. And in three weeks we are prepping them to take an entry level job,” said Riley.
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