Tag Archives: apprenticeships

Now that the holiday season has passed, students across the nation are settling back into their school routines. Despite the snow outside, for many college and high school students summer is fast approaching and with it the desire to gain professional skills through an apprenticeship or internship. These students recognize that industry experience is vital to a complete and well-rounded education. To back their claim, the Colorado Workforce Development Council has released its newest Talent Pipeline Report. The report’s number one recommendation?   “Accelerate and Deepen partnerships between education, business and industry to develop Colorado talent.”   That’s right, just as my friend Connan Houser at the Independence Institute claimed, It’s time for more public-private cooperation in education. I wish my school would consider this idea–I could design buildings for a company using Legos or help the accounting department with my abacus.   As exemplified by one of the movements leading enterprises, the effort to vitalize the relationship between business and education in Colorado is proving to be successful.   CareerWise, a Colorado nonprofit apprenticeship program, has had over half of its partner companies renew and agree to bring aboard a second group of students this coming fall. It has […]

Higher education institutions already appreciate the value of vocational education–you’d be hard pressed to find a university without internship opportunities or a work study program. Why is it then, that we relegate high school students to a purely theoretical learning environment? Many learn better through hands-on experience, many have interests outside of traditional curriculum, and many show promising ability and initiative that is suppressed in the generalized traditional setting. In order to afford our high school students with the opportunity to graduate with professional skills, and to give them the option to become qualified workers without attending a traditional four-year institution, we must welcome Colorado’s emerging apprenticeship, work study, and extracurricular programs. In a recent op-ed in the Greeley Tribune, titled It’s time for more public-private cooperation in education, the Independence Institute’s newest research associate and education policy geek Connan Houser features some of Colorado’s premier opportunities in vocational education. Whether a student desires to go straight into higher education, or straight into the workforce, these programs are exceptional opportunities for young professionals to develop real-world business skills and to begin exploring their career interests. I’d like to be either an astronaut or the Bronco’s quarterback when I grow up, but […]