Who Needs an Apprentice? Nevada CSD may be able to help with that.

By Justin Gross, Associate Superintendent of Nevada Community School District.

Nevada Community School District recently joined 12 other districts across Iowa in developing a Registered Apprenticeship Program in conjunction with the US Department of Labor. Registered Apprenticeship programs have gained attention recently as they are one of many programs being supported by Governor Kim Reynolds’s Future Ready Iowa Initiative. The need for skilled workers across Iowa continues to grow, and one way to hopefully meet that need is by creating Registered Apprenticeship Programs. We are fortunate in Nevada to be able to offer this opportunity to our students, which we wouldn’t be able to do without great local business partners such as ALMACO in Nevada and PMI in Ames.  

Working with ALMACO and PMI, we have created an apprenticeship program in Welding. Students from across Story County who take classes at Nevada’s welding facility will complete required course work offered by DMACC and then apply those skills as an apprentice at ALMACO or PMI. Students who apply and are selected to be an apprentice will ideally begin working full time (40 hours per week for 8 weeks) the summer of their junior year under the supervision of a mentor. Apprentices will have to learn and demonstrate mastery of on-the-job skills that ALMACO and PMI have identified in order to successfully complete the apprenticeship program. During the student's senior year, they will attend school part-time and continue to work part-time as they continue to acquire skills needed to be a full-time employee. Each apprentice will also be evaluated on “Behavioral” competencies which will earn regular pay increases as they continue to develop and demonstrate these skills.  

We see apprenticeships as a great opportunity for our students and our community.  We are also partnering with Boone to provide a similar opportunity to our students at Fareway and will be exploring apprenticeship possibilities for Certified Nursing Assistants (CNA), as well as agriculture-related careers. We would encourage anyone interested in learning more about this process to reach out to us, as we are always looking for ways to provide opportunities to our students.

Blog post provided by Justin M. Gross, Associate Superintendent of Nevada Community School District.  Justin is Nevada’s point of contact for Nevada’s Registered Apprenticeship program.