Harford County school leaders aim to get students workplace ready with apprenticeship program

BALTIMORE -- Harford County school leaders are starting the school year with a goal of making sure students are prepared to enter the workforce.

Getting a taste of the real world while still in high school.

"Most people don't get this opportunity," Joppatowne High School student Ati Awodle said. "… It kind of, like, makes me see what a professional lifestyle would be like."

Ati Awodle is an apprentice at OMNI Technologies, an IT professional services engineering firm in Aberdeen.

Jake Steinmiller is an apprentice at SURVICE Engineering in Belcamp, a company that helps the military make their vehicles safer.

"There's always some new for me to learn," Steinmiller, a student at Joppatowne High School, said."

Both students are a part of Harford County Public Schools' Apprenticeship Maryland program which is run through the state. It connects students to employers so they can get paid, on-the-job training in a field they're interested in.

To participate in the program, the apprentices have to be 16 or older and complete 450 hours of training.

When they complete their apprenticeships, the students have the opportunity to gain marketable industry skills and certifications.

"It provided an opportunity to work with DoD contractors and there's a multitude of people in each of the companies that I get a chance to work for that have a wealth of knowledge," Steinmiller said.

Harford County Schools started the program in the fall of 2022.

It quickly took off.

"We were recognized as number two in the state for our participation with apprentices," HCPS CTE and Magnet Programs Supervisor Joseph Connolly said.

Now, more than 150 businesses in fields ranging from agriculture and county government to restaurant management and IT are a part of it.

The participating businesses tell WJZ having the young workers on site brings new perspectives to the workplace.

"I think it's very exciting when you're a 17-year-old senior in high school and you come up with a solution in an adult field," SURVICE Engineering Head of IT Steve Phillips said. "I think they take a lot of pride in that."

The companies that Ati and Jake work for are a part of a group of defense contractors that offer internships to high schoolers.

They're looking to add more businesses to their roster.

"(We're) looking for companies that do cyber security, AI, engineering, really a digital infrastructure businesses," Defense Interns Founder Dondre Lawson said.

The group wants to give more opportunities to more students to learn valuable career skills before they graduate.

"This is a great step forward, getting an opportunity to touch the work that you may be interested in the future," OMNI Technologies CEO JaMarcus Roy said.