This week, we caught up with one of our students, Seven Breaux -- an apprentice through our CareerResidency Youth Apprenticeship Program pilot -- to see what his day-to-day life is like as a Network Technician at the University of Colorado's Anschutz Medical Campus. That's right,
as a part of our new apprenticeship program,
he is a current DPS student -- at High Tech Early College --and a working professional.
In his apprenticeship,
Seven is attending high school three days a week and
is working
for two days a week
alongside other
IT
technicians doing
valuable, skill-building
work -- system support, telecommunications and network infrastructure -- and getting paid for it. Can you imagine having this experience in high school, and what it would have meant to you professionally?
Internet Technology (IT) is a field Seven's been pursuing for a long time, and he worked hard to earn a spot through this competitive apprenticeship. He's in the inaugural cohort of more than 40
DPS
apprentices, employed at 18 Colorado companies.
"I'm in the field I want to be in. Instead of reading books of what I want to do in the future, I get to experience it," Seven said.
His supervisor at CU-Anschutz shared that, even though Seven has only been with the company for three months, he sees him as a regular employee. When Seven first started his job, he responded to
technology help
tickets with the help of another technician. Now, he is confident in his ability and manages requests all on his own.
And let's not forget, even though he is working in a professional job two days a week, he is still a senior in high school and keeps a full course load with college-level classes
at High Tech Early College
. One of the most incredible benefits of the apprenticeship program is the opportunity for students to earn up to an associate degree while in high school, debt free, through the Early College model.
"I get to start early, coming straight out of high school, and I am so grateful. I get a college education, free of charge! It's something that a lot of people didn't get the chance to do at 18 years old," Seven said.
What propelled him into landing this IT apprenticeship? A lot of thoughtful planning, and intentional exposure to the many career paths and ways there. To prepare him for his apprenticeship, he served as a tech intern through DPS CareerConnect's CareerLaunch program. His internship was with Lena Archuleta Middle School in the Open World Learning program, where he taught elementary kids the basics of interactive coding, building robotics and technology-based projects.
I'm excited to watch the apprenticeship program expand next year to more than 100 spots for students, and I look forward to hearing many more stories like Seven's.
