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CityAcademyMiniCaseSeries ApprenticeshipExposureand
StudentCareerChoices
Acollectionofbriefcasestudiesdescribingourschool TerryKraabel
ActionResearch
Spring,2014

Summary
Thisprojectinvestigatestheimpactofapprenticeshipexposureonastudentscareerchoice.Studentsmakecareer
choicesbasedonexperiencesandinteractionswithdifferentprofessions.Theseimportantchoicesareoftenlimitedfor
studentswhodonotseethemselvesassuccessfulinaclassroomsetting.

Description
ThisActionResearchprojecthastwocomponents,acasestudyfocusingononestudentwhoiscurrentlyenrolledina
courseatalocaltwoyearcollege(LTYC)andastudygroupofelevenstudentsintheconstructionprogramwhohave
beenexposedtoapprenticeshipprogramsthroughtheunionsandothercertificateprograms.

TheCaseStudy
Thestudentinthecasestudyhasobservedseveralcollegeclassesandiscurrentlyenrolledinacollegelevelcourseat
LTYC.'Sam'is18yearsoldandhasamobilebackgroundwithregardtoeducationandhomeenvironment.Samhasbeen
astudentatCityAcademyforthepasttwoyears.Whenshestartedschoolshewasverysociallywithdrawn.Initially,she
indicatedthatcollegewasnotlikelyinherfuture.Herinitialhesitancywasbasedonanassumptionofnotbeing
academicallycapableenoughtohandlecollegelevelwork.Samhadshownaninterestinahealthcareerandhas
focusedhercourseschedulearoundseveraldifferenthealthcarerelatedclasses.SamhasvisitedseveraldifferentLTYC
classesandcamebackwithaverypositiveattitudetowardscollege.ThevisitstoLTYCallowedSamtoenvisionherselfin
thatsettinganddoingthattypeofwork.Asadirectresult,shestartedtoconsiderherpostsecondaryoptions,and
includedprogramsinhealthcareersatLTYC.SamiscurrentlyenrolledinaPhlebotomycourseatLTYCandisdoinggreat.
Samattributeshersuccessincollegetotakinghealthrelatedcoursesinhighschool,andbeingabletoseewhatcollege
classeswerereallylikebeforeleavinghighschool.

TheConstructionProgram
TheYouthBuildconstructionprogramhasbeenamajorpartofeducationhereatCityAcademyforoverfifteenyears.
Duringthistime,studentshavebuiltover40homesandnumerousgaragesanddecksalloverStPaul.Studentsspend
threehoursperdaylearningonthejobsiteaswellasthreehoursintheclassroom.Studentscanearncertificatesin
OSHA10hourConstructionSafety,MinnesotaLeadworkerTrainingalongwithawidevarietyofconstructionskills.

YouthBuildattractsstudentswhoarenottypicallyconsideredtobecollegebound,andwhoexcelathandsonlearning.
Eightoutoftwelvestudentsurveyedsaidtheywouldconsidertechnicalcollege,whiletheotherfourwantedtogeta
constructionjobassoonaspossible.

AspartoftheYouthBuildprogram,studentscouldvisitandinteractwithvarioustradeunions.Thechoicesincluded
CarpentersUnioneducationcenter,CarpentersUniondiscussiongroupatCityAcademy,PipeFittersUnion,Sheet
MetalsUnion,ElectricalUnion,PaintingandFinishingUnionandaForkliftOperatortrainingcourse.Allbuttwostudents
participatinginthisstudyhaveattendedatleastfourpresentations.Studentsreportadeeperunderstandingafter
returningfromthesepresentations.Oneexamplewasagroupofstudentswhotooktheforkliftoperatorcourseand
earnedtheircertificate.Priortogoingtotheclassnotasinglestudentknewanythingaboutpotentialjobsorpay.After
completingthecourseallthoughtitcouldbearealcareerchoiceandweresurprisedtoseehowmanycompaniesused
forkliftoperators.Thefollowupdiscussionattheendofthepresentationshadseveralcommonthemes:
Icoulddothatjob.
Iamgoingtolookintobecominga
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Wowthatisagoodpayingjob.
Thetripstotheunionsandcertificateprogramsexposestudentstoconstructioncareersandhaveopenedupthe
numberofchoicesstudentshavewhenconsideringaconstructionrelatedcareer.

ActionPlan
Weshouldcontinuetoprovidetheadditionalcollegeclassvisitsandparticipationincollegeclasspreparationactivities
heldonthecollegecampuses.Whenstudentsareinthecollegeclassroomseeingfirsthandthecollegeexperience,they
seemtohaveabetterunderstandingofcollegeexpectations.Exposuretotheapprenticeprogramsisagreatwayto
openthestudentseyestodifferentcareeropportunities.Themorestudentsareexposedtocareerchoices,whetherat
atechnicalcollege,twoyearorfouryearcollege,earningcertificatesorapprenticeprogramsthemoreopportunities
ourstudentswillhave.Itistimetoremovetheveilwhichcoversalotofthecareerchoicesstudentshaveandtogive
honestreliablefeedbackontheprocessofcareerdevelopment.