National Apprentice Day -Connecting Youth to Their Dream Jobs

It is the hope of every parent that their child somehow, someday will find their dream job and live happily ever after. But how do kids wind up working that dream job? Is it luck? Well, now there is an organization, founded in Lewisburg, but eager to expand into our area, whose goal is to help kids 6 to 18 years old explore a job that might catch their interest to see if it really could become their dream job.

We talked with the founder of National Apprentice Day who tells us about that non-profit organization.

“Hi, everyone, I’m Christina Entenmann, Founder of National Apprentice Day” Christina said. “Our program is here to give career exploration opportunities to youth ages six to eighteen across the United States. So far we have connected 90 youth to their future dream jobs. According to the Labor Department, there’s five point eight million jobs that cannot be filled due to a growing skills gap. Of the forty-seven million youth living in the United States between six to eighteen years old, sixteen million of them are living in poverty. This is a significant disconnect, and one that Apprentice Day wants to connect back together, which is lifting children and businesses at the same time.”

Christina describes some of the ways other than just giving kids a taste of potential jobs that the National Apprentice Day program helps the kids.

“The Apprentice Day experiences not only help students understand the career opportunities available to them, they also inspire deeper and more personally relevant understanding of the importance of success in school” said Christina. “It helps to answer that question of ‘why do I have to do my stupid Math homework?’ or ‘who cares about this history stuff anyway?’  This program can spark a desire to succeed in school in order to reach career goals. It can also turn on a light bulb for students who need a little help understanding the relevance of success in school. And importantly, it can offer encouragement to those who are still in school and are excited about pursuing the career of their dreams. So, year round, Apprentice Day offers real-world authentic learning opportunities that benefit students in so many ways, and engages local businesses and parents in the process.”

Christina explained that Apprentice Day works by having students spend the day doing “job shadowing” at the employers workplace. So the student can see firsthand exactly what is involved in working the job and what is expected of workers at the job site.

How do employers get involved and what commitment do they have to make?

“Apprentice Day is free for businesses, and they register on ‘apprentice day .org’ Christina said. “During their registration, they tell us their Apprentice Day and time. We then post the Apprentice Day on the website and it looks very similar to job postings. Once the job is posted, we inform surrounding educators and schools. We also send out a newsletter and post it on our Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Our username on social Media is @apprentice day. As a registered employer, you become our advocate and an inspirational leader to our apprentices. “

In return, Apprentice Day helps promote the employers business by spreading their involvement with helping youth through Apprentice Day throughout the web.

Students become involved by visiting “apprenticeday.org” and selecting one of the posted apprentice day employers and sign up for free to participate with that job.

Christina says that their goal is to sign up two-hundred and fifty kids to their dream jobs in 2017. She asks for employers, volunteers and donors to visit “apprenticeday.org” and become involved in this effort to motivate kids and help them find their future careers, succeed in life and partake in the American Dream.