Questar III Youth Apprenticeship Program Students Formally Commit to Paid Internship Opportunities with Local Employers
CASTLETON, N.Y. - Juniors in Questar III’s Youth Apprenticeship Program (YAP) committed to paid internships with one of the program’s local employer partners in their respective trades at a Matching Day event.
On Tuesday, May 18 YAP students, their families and representatives of local employers joined Questar III District Superintendent Dr. Gladys I. Cruz, Director of Career and Technical Education Dr. Denise Fernandez-Pallozzi, and YAP instructors at the Questar III Administrative Office Conference Center to formally present students with paid internships.
Youth apprentices participated in job shadowing experiences with various business partners during March and April to meet business representatives, showcase their skills, and experience what it’s like to work for those businesses. Through job shadowing, both students and businesses alike evaluated the experience and mutually expressed interest in participating in a paid internship with one another.
The internships will begin in the summer and extend through the 2021-22 school year. Internships will give students the unique opportunity to complete more than 200 hours of on-the-job training and examine company culture while earning college credit through Hudson Valley Community College and satisfying New York State high school Regents diploma requirements.
According to the New York State Department of Labor, skilled trade vacancies have been the hardest to fill in the U.S. for several years. About 53 percent of skilled trade workers in New York State are age 45 and older, which is 10 percent above the average for all other jobs. A large portion of the workforce will need to be replaced in the near future. Through internships, employers will have the opportunity to reach the next generation workforce before others and mold matched students into ideal employees to replace their current workforce.
The Questar III YAP is currently in its first academic year. Students who committed to paid internships on May 18 were the first to do so in the program’s history.
For more information on the Questar III YAP, visit www.questar.org/youthapprenticeship.
About Questar III
Questar III, a Board of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES), is an educational service agency providing instructional and support services to 23 public school districts in Rensselaer, Columbia and Greene counties (and more than 640 school districts across the state). Questar III BOCES offers elementary, secondary and adult students choices and opportunities in education. Whether they are interested in exploring career and technical opportunities, seeking alternatives to the traditional classroom setting, or in need of support of physical, developmental or emotional disabilities, Questar III BOCES offers programs and services designed to help all students succeed.