Barnwell & Allendale County students apprentice locally

Fourteen students in Allendale and Barnwell counties took a major step in achieving their personal, academic, and career goals at the Youth Apprenticeship Carolina Sign­ing Day on December 14, 2022 at the Barnwell County Public Library.

Barnwell School District 45 (BSD45), Allen­dale County School District (ACSD), and Barn­well County Consolidated District (BCCSD) scholars have been learning valuable career and life skills at local companies and in departments within their schools.

Apprenticeships with Apprenticeship South Carolina through the S.C. Dept. of Commerce is an employer-sponsored, job-related, education program that aims to grow highly skilled employees who meet various workforce demands.

This program has two major components; super­vised and specific on-the-job training provided by the employer at the workplace, and related technical instruction.

Some of the benefits to this program are educators creating classroom instruction that is relevant to business and industry requirements, employers are growing their workforce pipeline, employee shortages are decreased, and students are able to better understand local career options while developing skills for a successful career.

This year in Barnwell and Allendale counties, students have apprenticed with Swiss Krono, Savannah River Nuclear Solutions (SRNS), BCCSD, and BSD45. Each position teaches both soft and hard skills to help apprentices be better employees throughout their careers.

BSD45 has been in this program with the S.C. Dept. of Commerce since 2016 and started at Swiss Krono with two apprentices, and the program has since grown to 14 students and three businesses.

Joni McDaniel, the Lower Savannah Regional Workforce Advisor with the S.C. Department of Commerce in surrounding counties, welcomed students, family, educators, and the community to the event.

“Making the connection between business and education to develop partnerships ensures South Carolina’s workforce will continue to be one of the best in the nation,” said McDaniel.

McDaniel directed Swiss Krono apprentices through the 40-hour Microburst Employability Skills program in the industry.

“Upon successful completion student apprentices realize as an employee they are responsible for allowing the company to thrive through teamwork, critical thinking and being an overall productive employee,” said McDaniel of the Microburst Employability Skills program taken in conjunction with on-the-job training.

Todd Mankin, training coordinator at Swiss Krono, detailed the benefits of this program from a business perspective at the signing. Mankin told apprentices,“because you went through these programs, you are bettering the workforce.”

“Youth Apprenticeships typically require 2,000 hours of on-the-job training with a minimum of 144 hours of classroom instruction,” said McDaniel.

“Apprenticeship Carolina works closely with the company to develop a program to meet the company needs. Youth Apprenticeships can be continued in an adult program with training taking place at the technical college,” said McDaniel.

“The partnerships are beneficial for both parties as our scholars are able to get the real-world experience needed that extends their classroom lessons and businesses are able to train and grow a workforce that will help them achieve their goals as well,” said Williston-Elko High School Principal Anthony Flowers.

“This is the future of our community,” said Barn­well High School (BHS) Principal Franklin McCormack.

Before introducing Swiss Krono apprentice TyZavier Grayson, McCormack stated Grayson once referred to this program as a game changer.

This program can serve as a game changer in the community by building the next generation of reliable employees.

“It’s our obligation as a business to teach,” said Mankin.

Grayson began his apprenticeship in August 2021, and shared with the crowd at the signing that this position has taught him safety skills, problem solving, and has even brought travel opportunities. Grayson visited Washington D.C. to meet with Swiss Krono officials and the former President of the Swiss Confederation and Minister of Economic Affairs, Education, and Research, Guy Parmelin.

Grayson was also named the South Carolina Career and Technology Education (SC CTE) Work Based Learning Champion and Student of the Year for the SC CTE Lower Savannah Region in part of his work in this program.

Apprentices at Swiss Krono and students at BSD45 are Grayson, Michael Badger, Matthew Croft, Christian Padgett, Bryce Pinkney, Dorion Sanders, and Shontavia Tyler.

Drew Platts is a BSD45 student who apprentices at SRNS alongside Allendale-Fairfax High School student Arian Williams. Platts and Williams are the inaugural participants in the apprenticeship program at SRNS.

SRNS works with local technical schools in Aiken, Denmark, Orangeburg, and Augusta to fill positions requiring a technical school degree in addition to the apprenticeship program.

According to ­McDaniel, many of the companies will pay for students to continue their training and education after high school, as some industry training programs can exceed the length a student is in high school.

From Williston-Elko High School (WEHS), Cadence Brown and Clifford Still are both apprentices at Swiss Krono. Also from WEHS are Gabe Refugia and Omarion Williams, who are information technology (IT) apprentices with BCCSD.

At BSD45, Grayson Thompson is an I.T. apprentice with the school and also a student at the Barnwell County Career Center (BCCC).

Many of these individuals are students at the BCCC where they participate in courses furthering their career-ready skills.

Sanders is a Swiss Krono apprentice and a BSD45 student in the mechatronics program at BCCC, and would “like to see Swiss Krono in my future.”

“I appreciate Ty, and Swiss Krono,” said Sanders of Grayson and his apprenticeship.

Omarion Williams is a senior at WEHS and IT apprentice with BCCSD. The interview for this position was the first interview he had ever had.

As he grew in the position, Williams began learning from co-workers who “took the time to help me understand.”

“I am grateful for the partnerships that we have been able to form with many of our local businesses to provide apprenticeship opportunities for our scholars,” said Principal Flowers.

“WEHS will continue to work with Apprenticeship Carolina to continue to grow these opportunities for our scholars and bring more local industries into the program,” said Flowers

For more information about the Youth Apprenticeship Carolina program, visit https://www.apprenticeshipcarolina.com/youth-apprenticeship.html or reach out to Joni McDaniel at (803) 378-9510.