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Operating Engineers Local 139 asks Fort Atkinson board to promote pre-apprenticeship pathway
Summary
Representatives from Operating Engineers Local 139 and its workforce-development director urged the board to help recruit students for pre-apprenticeship courses offered through the Destination Career Academy and to consider supports so students can access the pathway and credits toward Fox Valley Technical College.
Representatives of Operating Engineers Local 139 asked the Fort Atkinson Board of Education Thursday to help promote a pre-apprenticeship pathway for students interested in heavy-equipment operations and related trades.
Chris Feldman, representing Local 139, described a workforce shortage in construction trades and said the union wants to partner with the district to enroll interested students in a Destination Career Academy pre-apprenticeship program that can lead to credits at Fox Valley Technical College. Mindy Mull Ryan, workforce development director working with Local 139, said the pre-apprenticeship classes are certified by the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development and are the same courses registered apprentices take, allowing students to earn credit while in high school.
Why it matters: District staff and board members said career pathways and early exposure to trades are important to students who choose alternatives to four-year college. Feldman and Mull Ryan said cost and access can be barriers: they described cases where students who had taken the program paid out of pocket and urged the district to help connect students and families to the opportunity.
Board response: The board noted Mrs. Schurell, the high school principal, was present as a point of contact and administrators said they would follow up to facilitate enrollment information for interested students.
Ending: The presenters offered contact information and thanked the board; the administration indicated it would work with the union and the Destination Career Academy on next steps for student outreach.
