Translator: Denise RQ
When I was 16 years old,
I began an apprenticeship to become a farmer.
I was on the job for about three months
when my boss walked up to me and yelled,
"I give you 1,000 dollars to quit!"
(Laughter)
He was furious because I was slacking off.
I will never forget this moment for the rest of my life.
(Laughter)
I was shocked,
I was stunned,
but mostly, ashamed.
Although I was a city boy and had only been working on a farm
for a few summers, I thought I knew everything.
Well, I didn't.
But I wanted to finish what I started.
I liked working outside and with the animals.
My boss challenged me to either shape up or ship out.
So I got my act together and stayed.
The experience has changed my life.
I'm no longer working as a farmer,
but the skills I learned during that time
have given me a solid foundation for all my future jobs.
You see, I did not go to college right out of high school.
I graduated after 10th grade at the age of 16
because I grew up in Germany, and I had a choice.
I could choose between the academic and the apprenticeship route.
I hated school, so having a choice prevented me from dropping out.
I did go to college much later at the age of 29
and earned a degree in business administration.
At that time, I had changed careers,
and I was working in marine hardware sales,
I had done a second apprenticeship,
and I wanted that education, I was ready for it.
And honestly, my work experience greatly benefited my learning.
Apprenticeships -
apprenticeships are the backbone of the middle class in many countries,
but here in America, their value is totally underestimated,
and that's a shame.
We need to transform our K-12 education system
so it does not automatically push our children into the academic route.
Not everyone has to go to college right out of high school.
High school and college dropout rates are high;
in many cases, because of boredom.
I believe in apprenticeship education
as a solution to a number of problems
in our schools, in our businesses, and in our economy.
We need to get our kids engaged in hands-on learning
in their areas of interest,
and we have to get them engaged in areas where we have a need.
Their education has to match with what's happening
out in the real world.
Apprenticeships offer tremendous opportunities,
and not just in manufacturing.
We know that the lack of truly skilled workers
is critical in many industries,
and this has escalated over the last decade.
We need to find new sources of skilled workers.
Our largest source is our middle and high schools.
But there's a problem:
our K-12 education system
is currently heavily geared towards higher education.
it does not prepare our kids for success in industry.
I run a small company in Everett, Washington.
We have 30 employees and manufacture a variety of plastic parts.
I was hired without a plastics engineering degree
because my boss knew I would learn everything necessary on the job
from my co-workers and mentors.
My current employees also have learned on the job,
and they have very valuable skills and are extremely hard to replace.
But none of them needs a college degree.
Ever since I was hired 17 years ago,
finding qualified employees has been a problem.
Three years ago, I was in desperate need to find a new mold maker.
My principal mold maker was about to retire
and I had to find a successor.
So I advertized locally, then nationally,
and finally, hired a headhunter, without success.
I talked to our local community colleges, but they couldn't help me either.
So my only solution was to start an in-house training program
and to find an apprentice.
So I called the Department of Labor and Industries
which oversees all apprenticeships in our state,
and they referred me to AJAC.
AJAC stands for Aerospace Joint Apprenticeship Committee.
Let me tell you more about AJAC.
AJAC is a statewide nonprofit organization
which brings to the table employees, employers, educators,
and the Department of Labor and Industry.
So far, AJAC has developed six advanced manufacturing apprenticeship programs.
Our state has about 200 registered apprenticeships.
That's not very many, considering the thousands of occupations we have.
Our current workforce includes highly skilled workers
who offer valuable knowledge and skills they have acquired
through years of experience.
We have to capture that knowledge and help these retiring workers
to pass it on to the next generation before it is lost.
AJAC does that by hiring and training these workers as teachers.
In businesses with apprenticeship programs,
these individuals become mentors.
So I called AJAC, and in fact, yes,
they had a five-year apprenticeship program for mold making.
Believe it or not, a few days later,
a young man walked in the door and dropped off his resume.
He had just been laid off
and had some prior experience as a mold-making assistant.
He became our first apprentice.
You might want to know how he feels about that decision now.
Well, he still feels very fortunate that he took that opportunity,
and he said that he would not have achieved
his financial and professional goals to date
going a different route.
As for our business, we have added four more apprentices.
They are the basis for our continuous growth.
Let me explain apprenticeships
and dispel some of the misconceptions you might have.
Many people believe in apprenticeships
as being low-level, hands-on, low-paid training
for kids who aren't bright enough to succeed in higher education -
in short, kids who aren't smart.
Wrong!
Totally not true!
I don't see myself as being a loser.
Quite the opposite, actually.
We're talking about education in state-approved programs
which last three to six years.
Apprentices earn a good living wage while working full time
in state-approved businesses called training agents.
In addition, they take classroom training for about four hours a week.
They get raises every six months
if they perform well on the job and in class.
Their tuition is paid in full if it is an AJAC apprenticeship.
Other fees, for registration, and books, and stuff like that
are usually covered by the training agent,
provided they pass their classes with As and Bs.
So students graduate with professional certification,
college credit, skills for life,
and no educational debt.
Yes!
(Applause)
Thank you.
But here's the best part:
our schools can prepare our students for apprenticeships.
Let me tell you how.
First of all, middle and high schools need to provide CTE,
which stands for career technical education.
With CTE, students study careers in industry and business
and connect with people in those fields.
CTE is also considered the dropout prevention program.
Students discover their interests
and then see when, and why, and how
they need more academic training down the road, just like I did.
Second, there's a program called Core Plus.
Inspired by researchers from Harvard and MIT in 2011,
the Boeing company collaborated with government
and other businesses across the state
to create the Core Plus initiative.
The intensive Core Plus curriculum
ties directly into CTE and STEM,
and connects K-12 with post-secondary learning,
like apprenticeship programs.
With Core Plus, students are exposed to more in-depth, work-based learning
at an earlier age,
and Core Plus connects businesses with education at all levels.
Core Plus is currently offered in five major industry sectors.
These are aviation, maritime, construction,
medical devices, and agriculture.
Yes, more need to be added, but as a business owner
I'm strongly supporting Core Plus because I believe
all businesses in our state will benefit from it.
So I have given you all the pieces of the transformation puzzle.
Now let me put them together so you can see how it all would work.
Number one: school districts need to provide coherent CTE
in middle schools and high schools.
Number two: high school CTE uses the Core Plus curriculum
to prepare kids for apprenticeships.
Number three: students at the age of 16
are now able to enroll in youth apprenticeship programs
with local businesses.
This is huge, and brand new in our state.
In fact, it's such a big deal
that our governor just held our state's first Youth Apprenticeship Summit,
in which I participated.
Number four: AJAC, local community colleges,
and the Department of Labor and Industries
are administering and overseeing the youth apprenticeship programs.
Five: credit equivalencies are earned towards high school graduation.
So by the end of 12th grade, students have earned
enough high school credit to graduate; yay!
(Applause)
Exactly!
But they have also earned
apprenticeship credit and college credit;
and, again, so far zero educational debt.
We face serious challenges
to building our 2st century workforce and competing in a global economy.
Why?
Because of our aging workforce,
because of greater demand and production,
because of new technologies,
but most of all, because of the gaps in our education system.
For example, over the next five years,
our state needs to add 740,000 additional skilled workers
to fill increasing demand.
Seven hundred and forty thousand!
That number is just mind-boggling to me.
Where are they supposed to come from?
Apprenticeships are not just a local solution.
It goes national and worldwide.
And a few other states are also developing youth apprenticeship programs,
but none of them has an organization like AJAC.
I believe other states should look at the state of Washington as an inspiration
as they develop their own programs.
In closing, I want to leave you with these thoughts.
We have smart kids in our schools.
Some are just like I was: bored and unmotivated.
Forcing them in a direction which is of no interest to them
will kill their motivation and their passion.
We can offer them excellent careers
by adding apprenticeship programs which will fuel their passion.
We can close the skills gap; we can support our economy.
Apprenticeships can become the backbone
of the middle class in America.
Thank you very much.
(Applause)