Friday, November 18, 2022
When a great job requires experience or training, what can a high school student do? In Milwaukee Public Schools, a youth apprenticeship may be the answer. MPS offers multiple youth apprenticeship and internship opportunities that can fast-track students to high-demand, high-skill industries and lead to lucrative long-term careers.
Through the MPS Youth Apprentice Program, students spend part of their day in school and part of their day training and working for an employer. High school juniors and seniors are eligible. Juniors can maintain youth apprenticeships over the summer and continue in their senior year, potentially working 900 paid hours by the time they graduate. Some youth apprentices may be invited to continue as registered apprentices after high school.
MPS has partnerships across the city where students are training on the job as part of their school day. Career areas include:
- Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources
- Architecture & Construction
- Arts, AV Technology and Communications
- Engineering
- Finance
- Health Science
- Hospitality and Tourism
- Information Technology
- Manufacturing
- Marketing
- Transportation, Distribution, and Logistics
MPS is continually seeking more youth apprenticeship partners to accept students, begin their career training, and potentially offer registered apprenticeships after high school. Current partners consider youth and registered apprenticeships as a way to fill high-need jobs, and include Advocate Aurora, Educator's Credit Union, Harley-Davidson, Maxim Healthcare Services, MMSD, MPS Duplicating Dept., MPS Facilities & Maintenance, MPS IT Department, St. Camillus, Walgreens, and We Energies.
The MPS Youth Apprentice Program operates as part of Wisconsin’s Youth Apprenticeship program through the Department of Workforce Development (DWD). Learn more on the Wisconsin DWD page.
Interested MPS high school students should contact the College and Career Center in their school or talk to their school counselor. For more information, visit the MPS Youth Apprenticeships page.
Local businesses interested in MPS youth apprenticeships should contact Erin Cherney at cherneel@milwaukee.k12.wi.us or (414) 475-8019.
Students and families: Save the date for the next Youth Apprentice Information Night on January 11, 2022, which will be held virtually. Current high school sophomores and juniors and their parents are invited.