Northwest Aerospace News April | May 2019 Issue No. 8 | Page 48

T he older apprentices have now started to mentor and use their mentorship skills on the younger new apprentices. They’ve really brought some life into our facility.” Employers see the tribal knowl- edge of their employees walk out the door as retirements become more frequent in manufactur- ing. With this mass exodus, a large gap develops between the older and younger generation of workers. “We’ve worked with AJAC on their mentorship and leadership training — so we are training that older generation to be mentors,” said Young. “For us, it’s great because we have new life. We’ve got people who are excited to come to work every day.” AJAC’s employer relationship fostered a new bond between education and business. In 2019, AJAC will have partnerships with 16 school districts in seven counties in Washington State, including Whatcom, Snohomish, King, Pierce, Yakima, Grant and Spokane. For many years, there was a common complaint about the curriculum in schools not meet- ing the needs of industry. Youth Apprenticeship has bridged this gap by allowing schools to use industry-recognized curriculum to teach their apprentices skills employers look for. “The Youth Apprenticeship program inspires the confidence and support from industry because they know the skills being taught relate directly to those required in the work- place,” 48 said Maija Thiel, career and technical education director for the Puyallup School District. “Youth apprenticeships add more layers of opportunities to CTE courses, which attract students who are looking for multiple post-secondary options, equivalent core academic credits, college credits, and paid employment experience with advancement.” In return, the quality of the education is improving — as well as the equipment and tools needed to train the apprentices — through new funding streams developed to serve programs such as Thiel’s Puyallup Youth Apprenticeship program. “It offers the expertise from industry to ensure that the equipment and instruction in the trades-oriented pro- grams are aligned to the current needs in industry. This impacts not only the quality of the education and preparation of the apprentices, but also of all students who participate in related courses.” To keep business moving forward, many AJAC employers are reaching out to their local communities to find talented, motivated individuals. There is a pride to having home- grown employees in manufacturing, “The biggest reason Senior Aerospace AMT signed up for the Youth Apprenticeship program is primarily for our community. AMT’s a very community-minded company and we want to provide opportunities in our community first,” said Washburn. “We know that if we concentrate our efforts here in our own com- munity and with our local high schools, we will have a stronger base for our company and our business. We’re drawing our own employment needs from our own community, so that speaks highly to the city of Arlington.” NORTHWEST AEROSPACE NEWS