Parent Teacher Magazine Union County Public Schools May/June 2018 | Page 7

Piedmont High senior learns and earns’ in UCPS Pre-Apprenticeship Program
Like many students, Piedmont High senior Trey Mical begins his mornings
sitting in math class at his high school.
But through his participation in the UCPS Pre-Apprenticeship program, he
also spends his afternoons taking classes at South Piedmont Community College
(SPCC) or working alongside experienced maintenance techs at Greiner Bio-One
in Monroe.
“My college education is basically paid for. Sometimes, when people come out
of college, they have to pay that money back for the rest of their life,” Trey said.
“With this program, I don’t have to pay anything. I also get all of the knowledge
that I need and college credits.”
Offered through the UCPS Career Readiness Department, the pre-
apprenticeship program is designed to help students develop the necessary
technical skills for a successful career in a variety of industries. Trey and his
peers, who are part of the inaugural pre-apprenticeship class, are paid for
approximately 20 hours of work each week and also have the opportunity to take
relevant coursework at SPCC – at absolutely no cost to them.
“Before I enro lled in the pre-apprenticeship program, I thought that I would
start off working at a fast food job to make money before going to college.
However, I knew that college would also put me into a lot of debt,” he said.
“When this opportunity came along, it kind of changed everything.”
Since beginning the program in August, Trey said he’s received hands-on
training at Greiner Bio-One in areas that include pre-analytics, bioscience and
Vacuette. Vacuette is a blood collection handling system that is often used in the
medical field.
The UCPS Pre-Apprenticeship Program is designed
“However, being in high school, you don’t know a lot about the workplace.
to help students develop the necessary technical
That’s
why they send you to college so you can also learn more about the
skills for a successful career in a variety of
machines and equipment,” he said. “As of now, I have already taken four college
industries. Trey and his peers, who are part of the
classes. I’ve
inaugural pre-apprenticeship class, are paid for
approximately 20 hours of work each week and also taken AC/DC
have the opportunity to take relevant coursework at electricity,
SPCC – at absolutely no cost to them.
blueprint
reading,
hydraulics, pneumatics, PLC – I’ve taken all of that since August.”
Reflecting on the first year of the pre-apprenticeship program,
Greiner Bio-One Apprenticeship Coordinator Peter Xiong said Trey
has been a pleasure to work with during the past several months.
“The Pre-Apprenticeship program has allowed Greiner to be
able to observe the growth of each individual and explore how they
interact with our team members,” he said. “The program has also
provided the exposure necessary for them to see if this is the right
career pathway for themselves.”
When asked to describe one of the highlights of his time in
the program, Trey said it was finding out that he was selected to
be a part of the full apprenticeship program. As part of the full
apprenticeship program, he will continue to take classes at SPCC
while working at Greiner Bio-One for the next four years at no cost
to him. After he graduates from the full apprenticeship program,
Trey said he’d love to continue to work at Greiner Bio-One in the
future.
“If there is another student right now who is thinking about
participating in this pre-apprenticeship program, I would tell them
to go for it because it’s probably one of the best things that you
will be offered,” he said. “You learn and earn – you get paid to
A GRADE AHEAD is your Math
go to work and you get paid to go to college, and you’re still in
and English Tutoring Alternative.
high school. This program gives you a jumpstart and it helps the
companies benefit because they’re getting someone who knows
more about what they do than someone who isn’t familiar with
agradeahead.com/waxhaw
them.”
704-291-3555
Parent Teacher Magazine • May/June 2018 • 5