Milton Hershey School to Develop Skilled Carpenters with New Carpenter Hybrid Apprenticeship Program

The PA Apprenticeship Council approved the school’s second apprenticeship affiliation.

Milton Hershey School recently received Pennsylvania Apprenticeship Council approval for its second apprenticeship affiliation. This one is with Pyramid Construction Services and it’s part of Milton Hershey School’s pre-apprenticeship and hybrid apprenticeship program that was finalized by the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry in February of 2018.

“The goal of our pre-apprenticeship program is to provide opportunities for students who want to enter the workforce directly after high school,” said Dave Curry, MHS Director of Career and Technical Education. “We’re providing programming in the career fields they want to pursue that will ultimately help lead our students to sustainable, wage-earning careers without having to go to college.”

The school’s hybrid apprenticeship program combines a pre-apprenticeship with an apprenticeship through the following steps:

• MHS high school students will receive credit for in-class and on-the-job training that could qualify them for a state-registered, pre-apprenticeship certificate. Training includes Construction and Carpentry coursework within the school’s Career and Technical Education (CTE) program and paid internships or co-op experiences during their senior year.
• Students also can earn credit for a year of related technical instruction.
• Their pre-apprenticeship credit and certificate will count toward their apprenticeship if students are selected to complete an apprenticeship with Pyramid Construction Services.
• Students also can earn 32 credit hours toward an associate’s degree in a related field at Harrisburg Area Community College after completing their apprenticeship and related technical instruction.

“This hybrid apprenticeship affiliation is enhancing our students’ post-graduate opportunities and future success by providing options to our students that are more realistic and beneficial to them as they aspire to lead productive and fulfilling lives,” Curry said.

Currently, there are more than 1,300 apprenticeships available in Pennsylvania. MHS is working to provide pre-apprenticeship opportunities to students in all 11 career pathways within its award-winning Career and Technical Education program.

Learn more about the MHS Career and Technical Education program.