WAVE Tour Connects Students with Earn & Learn Apprenticeship Options
Ferndale students installing walls with Interior Systems Carpenters. Photo credit: Ashley DeLatour, Futures NW.
More than 400 people attended the Washington Apprenticeship Vocational Education (WAVE) Tour from April 24 – April 28 at the Northwest Carpenter’s Institute in Burlington, Washington. Students from 25 high schools in Skagit, Whatcom, Island, and Snohomish counties participated in hands-on activities to help them learn more about careers in construction trades. Small groups of students moved through 6 stations and spent 25 minutes on each trade.
Each day featured different trades, including Carpenters, Construction Laborers Local 292, Electricians IBEW 191, Operating Engineers, Sheet Metal Workers, Plumbers & Pipefitters, Snohomish PUD, AJAC Advanced Manufacturing Apprenticeships, and Puget Sound Energy. Tradespeople also advised students to practice their math skills while in high school since many trade apprenticeship applications include a math test and on-the-job quick calculations.
Students pounded sheet metal pieces to create a take-home toolbox, operated a virtual crane at the Operating Engineers simulation station, built scaffolding with the Carpenters, and chipped at a huge concrete slab using heavy equipment with the Construction Laborers. A robotic arm and a mini milking machine had students calculating math for manufacturing using computer numerical control (CNC) automation with representatives from AJAC (Aerospace Joint Apprenticeship Committee) Advanced Manufacturing Apprenticeships.
NOT JUST A CHOICE OF COLLEGE OR TRADES; TRADES AND COLLEGE OPTIONS
Burlington-Edison School District GEAR Up Site Coordinator Heather Paton attended the event and said there are a lot of misconceptions that post-high school is either about the trades or college. Many times, apprentices have the option to earn a college degree at the end of their apprenticeship. This option allows them to earn a livable wage right out of high school, with the average apprentice wage starting at $30 per hour plus benefits, and their program pays for their college classes as well. After about 4 years as an apprentice, the pay can increase to $50 per hour. Not only are trades a high-wage career option, but they are also in high demand due to a large group of tradespeople currently retiring, referred to as a silver tsunami. There are many apprenticeship openings for people who are 18 years or older, have earned a high school diploma or GED, and have the motivation to earn a livable wage right out of high school while they learn a trade and earn college credits at the same time.
THE IMPORTANCE OF PARTNERSHIPS & COLLABORATION
Students from Lummi Nation School learning about Puget Sound Energy’s apprentice opportunities. Photo credit Ashley DeLatour, Futures NW.
While students were building forms for concrete and an appreciation for the trades, event volunteers were building partnerships. To organize an event this size and length, the WAVE Tour planning committee, led by Mary Powers, Career Connected Learning Specialist for the Career Connect Washington Northwest (CCWNW) Regional Network hosted at the Northwest Educational Service District 189 (NWESD), assembled a group of 16 volunteers from the NW Washington STEM Network, Snohomish STEM, Northwest Workforce Council, FuturesNW, the Association of General Contractors Education Foundation, the Northwest Career and Technical Academy (NCTA), and retired community members and former teachers.
Sarah Patterson, Workforce Development Director from the Associated General Contractors Education Foundation (the Construction Sector Lead for Career Connect Washington) and a volunteer at the event said, “Thank you all so much for allowing us to be part of such an awesome day. I enjoyed the format of the event and believe this is how all construction-related career awareness activities should look and feel. It was outstanding to see the level of engagement from the students. You can count us in as a partner in any future programming offered within the construction pathways.” Strengthening these partnerships matters because organizations can help each other successfully deliver large-scale career events while working together to reach more students, instead of working individually. School chaperones also acknowledged the volunteers’ efforts and seamless coordination.
Lois Mehlhoff, High School & Beyond Coordinator from Lynden High School said, “WOW, amazing! It was such a well-run field trip. We knew what to expect all the way from instructions given to students to the directions of each station. It was great to have a volunteer to lead us throughout the day, so we didn’t need to worry about time to rotate or where to go next. Those extra details did not go unnoticed.”
TOURS OF THE WAVE TOUR – TAKING IT TO THE NEXT LEVEL
To help engage local employers and school administrator decision makers, Jenny Veltri, NW Washington STEM Network Director & Career Connect Washington NW Regional Lead, offered “VIP Tours of the WAVE Tour” to highlight the work happening in the region to connect students to careers. Among the VIPS who toured the WAVE Tour for an up-close look at the construction trades were Legislative Representative Dave Paul; Northwest Educational Service District’s Superintendent Larry Francois, Assistant Superintendent of Finance Lisa Matthews, Assistant Superintendent of Teaching & Learning Fredrika Smith, and Assistant Superintendent of Operations David Forsythe; Washington State Employment Security Department’s North Sound Regional Director Jessica Barr; Haskell Corporation’s Vice President Terry Corrigan and Safety Director Ray Pierce; and Northwest Career & Technical Academy’s Director Lynette Brower.
Larry Francois, NWESD Superintendent, featured his WAVE Tour experience in the Education Connection Spring newsletter, stating, “At the NWESD, we are growing our footprint and influence to promote, support, and help build career pathways in the skilled trades across our region. The skilled trades offer high demand, viable, and exciting futures for students.”
Several media outlets attended from Gig Harbor to the Skagit Valley Herald. Go Skagit released an article that included a photo of a Sedro-Woolley high school student operating the operating engineer’s virtual crane simulator.
EQUITY & FLEXIBLE EVENT MANAGEMENT
The WAVE Tour planners invited more than 55 high schools in the region to participate, including schools in rural areas such as San Juan Island and Lummi Nation School. One day had a “late start” time to ensure rural schools had extra time to get to the event. In addition, several schools in Bellingham decided to share a bus to cover transportation costs, however, this meant they would arrive late and miss the Apprentice 101 Orientation. Donovan Tate, Career Connected Learning Specialist for the Career Connect Washington NW Regional Network, recorded the orientation in advance for that group so they could watch it to prepare for the event and would still receive the same important information.
The planning team also expanded the event from 3 days to 5 days to bring in 170 more students. This way, every school that RSVP’d their participation could attend due to increased capacity. The Northwest Carpenter’s Institute, who hosted the event, graciously agreed to extend the use of their facility for the entire week.
“We want to thank Career Connect Washington and HF Sinclair who provided funding to make this event possible and to the NW Carpenter’s Institute for generously offering the use of their facility in Burlington,” said Jenny Veltri, NW Washington STEM Director and Career Connect Washington Northwest (CCWNW) Regional Network Lead. “We’d also like to extend a huge thank you to the planning committee! Alex Kosmides from the NW Workforce Council, Greg Brady and Lee Carter from the NW Carpenter’s Institute, Sinead Fitzpatrick Plagge and Donovan Tate from CCWNW hosted at the NWESD 189, all led by Mary Powers, also from CCWNW. Extra appreciation goes to Lindsay Fiker and Gary Peterson, who were instrumental in creating the WAVE Tour and shared vital knowledge and insight!”
Students and school staff left the event with a multi-tool kit provided by the NW Workforce Council. Each tool has a QR code directing students to more info about funding, application assistance services, and an Apprenticeship Resource Packet to use in the classroom.
CAPTURING DATA FOR INSIGHTS AND IMPROVEMENTS
Students from Lynden High School chipping concrete with the Construction Laborers. Photo by Ashley DeLatour, Futures NW.
To ensure the WAVE planning team received feedback from students, the WAVE planners developed a survey of students who would “trade” for two slices of pizza for lunch. Post-event evaluations from more than 100+ students indicated that they were surprised by the amount of pay apprentices earn to learn. A student from Mount Baker High School wrote they were impressed by “the electrician’s amount of pay and the amount that goes toward pension and retirement.” A student from Northwest Career & Technical Academy – Anacortes High School indicated their favorite thing was, “how passionate the demonstrators were.” More than 20 students commented on communication with the tradespeople at the event as the best part: “I liked how they were talking to us”, “I spoke to 3 electricians”, and “talking to people.” More than 26 students indicated their favorite thing was “hands-on learning.”
Out of the students attending, 89% reported that they learned more about apprenticeship than they knew before. When asked to rate their knowledge of apprenticeships on a 7-point scale, students reported an average of a 2-point increase in knowledge. Additionally, 59% of students responded that they were interested in being contacted directly regarding apprenticeship opportunities.
Over 60% of those who attended are preparing to graduate from high school or are in a specific program to prepare to enter the trades. The majority of the remaining attendees were juniors in high school, followed by sophomores and freshmen.
It was important to reach a diverse group of students through the WAVE Tour to share information about apprenticeships and the trades. Demographics of those attending indicate that 42% of students were BIPOC including 16% Hispanic, 13% Native American/Alaskan Native, 8% Multiple Races, 3% Asian/Pacific Islander, and 1% were African American/Black. Additionally, attendee gender demographics indicate that 16% of the students were female, significantly higher than the industry average; according to the Washington State Apprenticeship & Training Council quarterly report (2022), women make up 51% of the overall workforce, but only 5% or 6% work in the construction trades industry.
The WAVE Tour was started in 2007 by Lindsay Fiker, a former career counselor at Burlington Edison high school, Alex Kosmides from the Northwest Workforce Council, and L&I (Labor & Industries) representative Gary Peterson. It gained momentum and expanded each year to serve more schools in the region until COVID brought the yearly event to a halt in 2019.
Staff from the Career Connect Washington NW Regional Network hosted at the NWESD facilitated a coalition of industry and workforce development partners to organize this year’s tour and all three tour originators participated in the planning committee to offer guidance. The WAVE Tour planners are already working on dates for the next WAVE Tour event!
