Joe D'Amico and Ed Janus, hosts of NCREL's Rural Audio Journal, discuss the Fox Cities Apprenticeship Program at the Fox Valley Technical Institute in Appleton, Wisconsin. Excerpted from NCREL's Rural Audio Journal, volume 2, number 3, From School to Work--and Back Again: Apprenticeships for Rural Students (NCREL, 1994).
D'Amico:
"Students in the Fox city apprenticeship program all attend the Fox Valley technical college together, taking both their occupational courses and their academic courses there. Each student is apprenticed to a local business where they are put under the supervision of one or more masters, their mentors. Students are paid by law at least minimum wage for about 24 hours a week of highly structured and supervised workplace learning. This learning follows the identical curriculum and competencies taught to them at the technical college. Although the students do actual work at their jobs, producing products and giving service, there is no question in anyone's mind that the reason they are there are to be taught and to learn."Janus:
"After graduation, students can earn an associate degree in their trade from the technical college in only one as opposed to the normal two years of study."
This Critical Issue was researched and written by Sarah Mason, Outreach Specialist, Center on Education and Work, School of Education, University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Date posted: 1996