What will I be doing in the Pre-apprenticeship program?

Basically, you will complete your high school studies with an emphasis on entering the skilled trades.  There are five “sections”, or component of the program that you will complete.  Most students will take two years to complete the program.

Section 1
You will take at least two semesters of related courses at your home high school or the Spokane Area Skills Center.  While your high school may use different names for your courses, they are generally construction related courses in the areas of woods and metals.  If you attend the Skills Center program, you should enroll in Construction Technology or Welding.

It is important that you also complete supporting courses that relate to your area of interest.  Classes such as Manufacturing Technologies, Drafting, CAD, Applied Physics, Construction Math, Personal Finance, Careers, Entrepreneurship and others will help you to become a more well rounded apprentice.

You should strive to do well in all of your other classes.  Technical writing, reading, and math are all important to a Journey person.  In fact, you will need to score at least a three on the Math portion of the WASL in order to be accepted into an apprenticeship program.

Your attendance in school is vital.  One of the first items you will be asked in an Apprenticeship interview will be about your school attendance. 

Section 2
Section 2 contains very specific content that is foundational to all apprenticeship programs.  These will be completed at your home high school or at the Skills Center.  You may even satisfy some of these requirements in your classes, if not, you will need to attend a workshop.  You are required to complete at least six hours in any combination of the following:

Section 3
This section contains more specific information than Section 2.  These are still items that are foundational to all Apprenticeship programs and can be completed at your home high school, the Skills Center, Spokane Community College or through an industry workshop.  You are required to complete at least 14 hours in any combination of the following:

Section 4
Before you decide on an Apprenticeship program to apply for, you should have a general understanding of what is available for you.  To satisfy the requirements of Section 4, you will complete at least five industry experiences in five different Apprenticeships.  These experiences will last anywhere between 2 and 8 hours.  They will be set up by the Apprenticeship Coordinators and your instructor will be notified, and in turn, will notify you.  The following Apprenticeships may be available:

Section 5
The final item you will be required to complete is a Work Based Learning Experience.  This will be an experience (paid or unpaid) that is related to the construction industry.  These may be completed at any time before you graduate.  You will need at least 80 hours of this experience and you will be responsible for finding and securing the position.  Your school instructor will help you with the required Work Based Learning forms.

How do I keep track of my progress?
You will be responsible for tracking your progress using the Pre-Apprentice Training Record.  This is found on the web site and when you apply for entrance into the Pre-Apprenticeship program, a record will be made for you.  As you complete the requirements of the program, you will enter information on the form to be stored on the web site until you need it.  The information you will be entering are dates, hours, experiences, and instructor names.  Be sure to keep a portfolio of all activities that will back up your Training Record.  Both you and your school instructor will need to sign and verify the Training Record.  You will take this to your interview.

The Interview
The final step in the Pre-Apprenticeship process is to interview for an Apprenticeship position.  These are highly competitive interviews and there is no guarantee that you will become an apprentice.  You will bring your Pre-Apprenticeship Training Record and all of the back-up information needed.  The interview team is the group of people who will select the apprentices.  Your school instructor has no say in who is chosen. 

Am I guaranteed an Apprenticeship position?
No, not unless your District is involved in Direct Entry (Ask your instructor about this).

Being a successful completer of the Pre-Apprenticeship Program will give you a substantial advantage over other candidates, but you will be competing against individuals with ten years of work experience.

Realize that if you do not enter an Apprenticeship, you have gained many marketable skills while enrolled in the Pre-Apprenticeship program.  This will help you to obtain related employment. 

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