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East Allegheny hears plan to add Catalyst Connection pre-apprenticeship for manufacturing careers
Summary
Catalyst Connection presented a state-registered pre-apprenticeship for high-school students that would bring industry partners, paid work experiences and up to seven certifications to East Allegheny at no cost to the district through existing grant funding.
Catalyst Connection told the East Allegheny School District board that a pre-apprenticeship program could provide high-school students pathways into manufacturing careers, paid work experiences and state-recognized credentials.
"Well, again, my name is Scott Deats, and I am the director of workforce development at Catalyst Connection," Scott Deats said during the meeting. He told the board Catalyst Connection is a nonprofit based in Hazelwood that supports small and mid-sized manufacturers across a 12-county region and has developed a state-registered pre-apprenticeship that allows high-school students to earn up to seven state and nationally recognized certifications.
The program is already operating regionally, Deats said, with about 132 students currently enrolled across roughly a dozen counties and partnerships with 13 school districts. He said the program is funded in part by state and federal grants, which allows districts to participate at no direct cost for curriculum, certification testing and some transportation or stipend support for student work experiences.
Board members asked for details on industry focus, transportation and age limits. Deats said the curriculum is called the Industrial Manufacturing Technician program, a broad-based set of electromechanical and safety skills that aligns with college industrial maintenance and mechatronics programs. For field trips, he said Catalyst Connection reimburses districts for buses; for student work experiences the organization can provide stipends or gas cards and students may earn income during summer or after-school placements. Age and hiring rules are set by individual manufacturers, he said, with most participants 17–18 years old.
Mr. Spinda, an instructional leader in the district, told the board that the Tech 3 year-long class could be a natural place to embed the pre-apprenticeship curriculum during a pilot. "This would be a great way to embed those pre-apprenticeship courses in there to allow students to still maintain the integrity of what they signed up for," he said, noting pilot cohorts of six to eight students would allow the district to test credit articulation and graduation-credit impacts.
Deats said Catalyst Connection also supports job shadows and employer visits and will work with district staff to identify local manufacturers and to match students. "We can now set it up to leverage those personal connections you all have in your community," he said.
The board did not vote on a formal partnership at the meeting; administrators said they will continue conversations about credits, graduation requirements and pilot cohorts and will return with more details in a future meeting.
Next steps: administrators will coordinate follow-up on articulation agreements, cohort size and potential pilot scheduling so the board can consider any changes to credit or graduation requirements before enrollment decisions are finalized.
