Wayne Community College (WCC), located in Goldsboro, North Carolina launched its first Registered Apprenticeship (RA) Program in 2019. This program generated a wave of interest in the community.
As a result, the community college created Apprenticeship Wayne in 2020. The employer-based RA program exists within the Wayne Business and Industry Center, connecting and supporting employers and apprentices. Registered with ApprenticeshipNC and the United States Department of Labor, the program equips workers with specialized, industry-specific skills needed in the workplace.
Apprenticeship Wayne combines on-the-job learning with classroom instruction for ten different businesses across automotive, electrical, HVAC, machining, maintenance, and swine management occupations. Supporting nearly 100 apprentices, this work could not be accomplished without the numerous partners who contribute to the program; this list includes K-12 school district leaders, the local workforce development board, community non-profits, ApprenticeshipNC, the State’s Apprenticeship Agency, and the North Carolina Business Committee for Education.The partnership’s efforts were recognized by the Bell Weather College Consortium and the American Association of Community Colleges in 2022 and 2023.
In late 2022, Wayne County Public Schools expressed interest in a new role as an employer partner. Originally a support partner focused on recruiting high schoolers into RA programs, the school district saw a need to grow its own educator pipeline. Apprenticeship Wayne responded.
With support from ApprenticeshipNC, Apprenticeship Wayne spent 2023 forming a partnership with the University of Mt. Olive, developing on-the-job learning competencies, aligning the program with state supplemental education requirements, and defining an apprentice wage scale. But after several guideline revisions, it became evident that the language of apprenticeship and K-12 education were very different. Apprenticeship Wayne then contacted the newly formed Educator Registered Apprenticeship (ERA) Intermediary at RTI International in the summer of 2023.
The ERA Intermediary provided 1:1 coaching to help align apprenticeship standards to language in the education sector. “The greatest value-add of the ERA Intermediary was having a thought partner that understood both apprenticeship and education and who could explain how the two work together in the program standards,” said Kristie Sauls, Executive Director of Apprenticeships and Career Development at WCC. “ERA helped us understand braided funding opportunities and clarified the benefits of apprenticeship to prepare future educators.”
In 2024, Apprenticeship Wayne and Wayne County Public Schools will use incentive funding from the ERA Intermediary to support recruitment and mentorship for 10 – 12 new teacher apprentices. They are also partnering with the state’s Department of Public Instruction to create a teacher development pipeline for high school career and technical education. Beginning with a pre-apprenticeship program, students will receive access to dual enrollment courses through WCC. Upon graduation, they will be candidates for the K-12 teacher RA program. If accepted, students get 1) access to state grant funding that offsets the cost of their post-secondary education, and 2) wages from Wayne County Public Schools for the on-the-job learning component of the program.
Apprenticeship Wayne recognizes that to attract and retain future educators, they must provide a pathway into the teaching profession that includes more support and eliminates current barriers. Every student deserves a committed and well-prepared teacher, and every teacher deserves to be supported throughout their professional development; Educator apprenticeships provide both.
For more information about the partnership at Apprenticeship Wayne, please visit www.apprenticeshipwayne.com.
For more information about the Educator Registered Apprenticeship Intermediary, visit www.educatorapprenticeships.com or email educatorapprenticeships@rti.org.
Publish Date: 01/12/2024