Gov. Scott Walker announced $3.9 million in youth apprenticeship grant awards Wednesday with about a quarter of the money going to southeastern Wisconsin consortiums or organizations.
The grants are going to a total of 33 consortiums statewide to fund 4,353 youth apprenticeships for high school juniors and seniors. Eleven of the recipients are in southeastern Wisconsin, accounting for $1.03 million in funding and 1,150 apprenticeships.
The largest recipients in the area include the Waukesha County School-to-Work Partnership, receiving $242,100 for 269 students; Milwaukee Public Schools, receiving $225,000 for 250 students; GPS Education Partners, receiving $205,200 for 228 students; and Sheboygan Area, receiving $107,880 for 120 students.
See a full list of recipients here.
Walker’s office noted the 250 students in the MPS youth apprenticeship program would represent a five-fold increase in participation over the current school year.
“Wisconsin’s nationally-recognized Youth Apprenticeship program helps employers across the state address the skills gap and remains a key talent development strategy,” Walker said. “Increased grant funding for the upcoming school year ensures more Wisconsin high school students will become youth apprentices and graduate with the high-demand job skills and industry certification required by our businesses.”
Participating students may select an occupational area of interest for their YA job training across 11 Department of Workforce Development approved career clusters, including agriculture, food, and natural resources; architecture and construction; art, audio/visual technology and communications; finance; health science; hospitality and tourism; information technology; manufacturing; science, technology, engineering and mathematics; transportation, distribution and logistics; and marketing.
