Careerwise apprenticeship program gives students real-world experience

CareerWise Colorado kicked off this school year and some thirteen students in District 51 are getting to learns hands-on.

For students like Johan Mall, a student apprentice, the first day of classes was the first day of work.

“We work on computers setting them up, fixing them, motherboards, keyboards, pretty much anything that goes along with computers,” Mall said.

Mall is trying to get a head start in his career with the CareerWise program.

“This is a good step to Start getting toward networking,” Mall said

“It gets them in the workforce it gets them a job and they develop work skills and they pursue a a career they’re thinking about pursuing,” Matthew Diers, Executive Director of High Schools, said.

So instead of learning from a textbook, Johan is learning with experience.

“You get training for your career that you want to go into and you get paid,” Mall said.

The program is modeled after Switzerland’s apprenticeship program.

“It’s a process and a system that works for them,” Diers said.

District 51 is one of the largest partners with the program. Denver and Lamar also have apprentice programs through CareerWise.

Johan said he gets to learn other skills aside from working on computers, like personal communication skills.