business backgrounder | education & workforce
employers , including The McGregor Co . and local auto dealerships .
“ It ’ s the first pre-approved apprenticeship in Washington in a high school ,” said Jessica Dempsey , career-connected learning director for ESD 101 . “ It ’ s like Running Start for apprenticeship .”
Teachers at Gar-Pal High School and other regional educators are building this program to send students through training at private-sector employers where they can work side-by-side with their technicians .
career-connected learning
This unique aspect of the program is that while they are learning skills at school , they also are placed in real-life work environments . While learning the mechanical side of automotive tech , they ’ re also learning the soft skills that come from real-life work environments .
“ It ’ s kind of a job shadow but also a pre-apprenticeship ,” said Mark Sawyer , the shop and CTE instructor at Gar-Pal . “ Part of what I ’ m trying to do with this program is bridge the gap and give them confidence . They may not want to go into automotive , but I want to show them they can interact with adults in industry ... what it ’ s like to show up every day and what a work day feels like .”
The program allows high school students to get Automotive Service Excellence ( ASE ) certified skills training and be on a pathway for preapprenticeship . The hours they spend in this program would add up if they went into an apprenticeship after high school .
“ Even if not , the skills they learn in this program will let them walk right into shops that have needs for these skills ,” said Leslie Druffel , outreach coordinator for The McGregor Co . “ We are able to bring in young individuals from communities where we work to help train them , and then we have the possibility to hire them when they ’ re done . They become employable and we can offer them positions .”
In a way , the farming communities of the Palouse are a natural place for a program like this to take root . Farmers tend to be problemsolvers — learning how to use whatever they have around them to patch together whatever needs fixing .
“ We ’ re looking at bringing in students with greater mechanical knowledge ,” Druffel said . “ These kids don ’ t always have the opportunity to tinker in the back yard . We ’ re happy to be able to help here . When your budget doesn ’ t allow you to buy a new widget , what can you make out of what you have ? It ’ s a great life lesson .”
“ These kids don ’ t always have the opportunity to tinker in the back yard . We ’ re happy to be able to help here . When your budget doesn ’ t allow you to buy a new widget , what can you make out of what you have ? It ’ s a great life lesson .”
– Leslie Druffel , outreach coordinator for The McGregor Co .
Dempsey soon happened to find herself in a meeting about manufacturing with Druffel , who mentioned in passing that The McGregor Co . had its own automotive and collision mechanics .
“ I stopped the meeting to say ‘ Go back ,’” Dempsey said . “ I hijacked the meeting . We never talked manufacturing again . ... McGregor is in all these rural towns . I was already working with Mark . It just kind of blew up , in a good way .”
The partnership with The McGregor Co . was crucial to the project ’ s success , said Garfield School Board member Ryan Pfaff , who is also a farmer who works closely with The McGregor Co . as part of his business .
“ It made it come to fruition in my opinion ,” said Pfaff said of the collaboration . “ When you have private companies and schools come together in a program like this it just makes things happen .”
His son , Colton Pfaff , is a junior and a student in the preapprenticeship program .
“ It ’ s a lot more fun than sitting in a classroom staring at a piece of paper ,” Colton said . “ You can get your hands dirty .”
growing interest
The work is attracting attention . The Ford Motor Co . has been an early supporter and partner , and after hearing about the program through news reports on the AWB Manufacturing Week tour , the owner of the local Chevrolet dealership reached out to join up as well .
Sawyer hopes their program can serve as a template for other school districts , large and small , across Washington .
“ At McGregor they can see a pathway beyond high school ,” said
Dempsey . “ The whole premise of the program is to create options .” Druffel agrees . “ We ’ re making sure our local kids understand there are local jobs available to them if they don ’ t want to go far and wide .”
creating career-connected learning programs an idea whose time has come
The project started when Sawyer was teaching an automotive class and wanted to develop it into a career pathway by involving industry . He talked with Jessica Dempsey of Educational Service District 101 about his idea .
Employers who read this story and would like to work toward a careerconnected learning program in their community can contact their local Educational Service District or Jessica Dempsey , career-connected learning director for ESD 101 in Spokane .
“ There ’ s one of me in every ESD ,” she said about her position . “ I could do a handoff .”
Dempsey can be reached at 509-323-2726 or jdempsey @ esd101 . net .
46 association of washington business