From Nov. 17 through 23, the United States will celebrate National Apprenticeship Week while focusing on engagement, expansion and innovation for its 10-year anniversary. Southeastern Community College in partnership with Columbus County Schools and Whiteville City Schools will mark the occasion with its first ever ACCESS apprenticeship open house event on Nov. 20, and it will feature informative hands-on interactions between high school juniors and seniors and local industry partners.  

From 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., high school students from East, West and South Columbus High schools, Whiteville High School, North Whiteville Academy and Columbus Career and College Academy will engage with local employers from across 10 areas of study: automotive, advanced manufacturing, building and construction, information technology, teacher prep, healthcare, agribusiness, welding, EMS and public safety.   

Coordinating the event is Director of Apprenticeships Denise Young, and she said that parents of the students are invited to learn more about their child’s career interests and the pre-apprenticeship and apprenticeship programs at SCC. The three main goals of the open house event are to inform students and parents about apprenticeships, inform students that jobs are available in Columbus County and inform employers about the available talent to pull from. 

“When students arrive, our welcome and introduction will be in the Cartrette building,” Young said. “And we will have our own North Carolina Apprenticeship Consultant Antwan Pippen to speak about apprenticeships.”  

Students will witness their first apprenticeship signing agreement ceremony in the SCC auditorium with two MLT apprentices and a registered nurse agreement signing with Columbus Regional Healthcare System. Superintendent Dr. Jonathan Williams of Whiteville City Schools and Superintendent Eddie Beck of Columbus County Schools will sign teacher prep apprenticeship agreements. 

“Throughout the day, students will interact with employers, do some networking and do some interviews with them,” Young said. “They will learn more about each company and what is to be expected of an employee.” 

Students will break out into sessions with SCC instructors and learn a trade. Young explained that students interested in automotive systems technology, for example, will learn a skill related to vehicle maintenance. They will demonstrate that skill to employers and will be scored on proficiency. The scores will be tallied, and prizes will be awarded at the end of the day. 

“It’s going to be an awesome day because employers will give feedback to the students and students will be exposed to jobs in Columbus County,” Young said. “The students will eat lunch with the employers in Nesmith Student Center and have more opportunities for networking.” 

Young is most excited about students getting the hands-on experience of touching the kind of equipment they would use at a job. She said that experience is worth more than a simple tour, looking at something or sitting through a speech. Young wants students to see and talk with industry partners they could potentially work for in the future.  

In preparation for the open house, Young “ventured out into the school systems” to speak with teachers, counselors and principals to get them hyped up and excited. On recommendation from the superintendents, Young invited middle school counselors to the event for exposure and information to relay to their 7th and 8th graders.  

Young explained that the open house event is targeting students who are already involved in their high school’s CTE program, have taken a Pathway to Employment course at SCC and students who participated in the high school summer camps at SCC. The open house event is also targeting students without previous experience who want to work as soon as they graduate high school.     

“Everyone here at Southeastern is excited about it, and we want to make sure we connect those students and industry partners together,” Young said.  

SCC President Dr. Chris English said he is most excited about students learning about apprenticeships that are federally recognized. 

“For us, it’s a way to put a highlight on our partners and recognizing the work they are doing that is impacting the lives of our workforce,” English said. “The high school students are getting this awesome chance to speak with employers in a low-pressure environment where they can discuss job opportunities.”  

SCC Executive Vice President Dr. Sylvia Cox said that everyone should be excited about apprenticeships because it is the model that has withstood the test of time. She said that Nov. 20’s big open house event was crucial in establishing pre-apprenticeships and letting students get vested in local businesses. Cox explained that early exposure to job opportunities is the best next step in creating a competitive job market.  

“We have business partners who mentor our students while they are going to school, and we have the support of our instructors and staff,” Cox said. “It creates a strong community of learning, it improves their retention rate and they learn to be loyal and thankful to that employer.” 

National Apprenticeship Week is a nationwide celebration where employers, industry representatives, labor organizations, community-based organizations, workforce partners, educational institutions and federal, state and local government agencies showcase the successes and value of Registered Apprenticeship.