Apprenticeship Randolph welcomes 18 new pre-apprentices

Eighteen area high school juniors and seniors recently signed up with Apprenticeship Randolph (AR). These 18 new pre-apprentices, 16 in the Manufacturing Technology pathway and two in the Information Technology pathway at Randolph Community College, join 53 current apprentices at RCC who are distributed among 18 company partners. The new pre-apprentices will take summer classes May 24-July 26, and work with their AR partner employer June 14-July 30. At the end of the pre-apprenticeship, employers and pre-apprentices will decide if it is a good fit. Those that agree will be given a full apprenticeship with the fifth Signing Ceremony slated for Aug. 10.

Apprenticeship Randolph began in June 2016 as a collaboration among Randolph Community College, the Randolph County School System, Asheboro City Schools, the Asheboro/Randolph Chamber of Commerce, and local manufacturers. The goal was to bridge both the interest and skill gaps in modern manufacturing and provide a vehicle for expanding the workforce pool for advance manufacturing in the county. With tuition funded through Career and College Promise and the N.C. Youth Apprenticeship Tuition Waiver Program and books paid for by the school systems and the participating companies, Apprenticeship Randolph produces an educated, skilled, debt-free workforce.

The program, which is for high school juniors and seniors, begins with a six-week, pre-apprenticeship summer program that consists of RCC classes and 40 hours per week of on-the-job training. Once a business selects its apprentice after this trial period, the program is spread over four years with students receiving paid, on-the-job training while earning an Associate of Applied Science Degree in Manufacturing Technology or Information Technology through RCC and a Journeyworker Certificate from the N.C. Community College System and U.S. Department of Labor.

Sixteen students signed up in 2017 — the first year of the program, and 17 signed in 2018. Twenty-two signed in 2019 with 21 apprentices signing in 2020.

For more information, companies, students, and parents should visit the Apprenticeship Randolph website; contact RCC Pathways Activities Coordinator Stacey Miller at 336-318-4958, or email apprenticeshiprandolph@gmail.com.