This month's Success Story features a young woman whose perserverance and determination has inspired all those around her to follow their dreams.
Born in Arlington, VA, her father abandoned her and her mother just after she was born, and her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer eight months later. After having surgery to remove the cancer, her mother moved Crystal and her three sisters to Richmond, VA where the four of them overcame the adversities of a single parent household.
Crystal graduated with honors from Tri River High School in June of 1996 and attended Ferrum College in the fall. After three years at Ferrum, Crystal became a mother herself and left school to get married and work full time. More ...
The form of apprenticeship training, in which people have been transferring skills from one generation to another, can be dated back thousands of years. During those times, fathers taught their sons the crafts in generation after generation. Today’s apprenticeships are keeping alive the knowledge of many crafts.
In 1937, U.S. Congress passed the National Apprenticeship Law, which is popularly known as the Fitzgerald Act, was enacted to promote the furtherance of labor standards of apprenticeship …to extend the application of such standards by encouraging the inclusion thereof in contracts of apprenticeship, to bring together employers and labor for the formulation of programs of apprenticeship, to cooperate with State agencies in the formulation of standards of apprenticeship.
Over the years, new and emerging industries have been created for apprenticeship training. Currently, there are over 1000 occupations that have been certified as apprenticeable. Industries that provide apprenticeship training include: allied health, information technology, aviation, hotel/restaurant, retail, construction, childcare, security, automobile, etc. Industries providing apprenticeship training include both private and public areas of apprenticeship.
The District of Columbia was established as a State Apprenticeship Council (SAC) on May 21, 1946. The District is one of twenty-seven State Apprenticeship Councils (SAC’s) given authority by the U.S. Department of Labor to determine eligibility for registered apprenticeship programs.
The D.C Apprenticeship Council is supported by the D.C Office of Apprenticeship, Information and Training (OAIT) within the D.C Department of Employment Services to carry out the daily functions of the apprenticeship system. The Apprenticeship Office staff acts as secretariat for the Apprenticeship Council, which primary functions are to promote, administrate, install and monitor registered apprenticeship programs.
In promoting apprenticeship, the Apprenticeship Office staff educates the community, community based organizations (cbo’s) and public schools’ educators and students on the apprenticeship training system as viable career alternative. Staff also promotes the apprenticeship training system to employers and industries as means of expanding available apprenticeship programs and increasing employment and training opportunities for local and area residents. The Apprenticeship Office Staff has the knowledge and expertise to provide employers seeking apprenticeship registration with technical assistance in the development of appropriate apprenticeship standards, which must be approved by the Apprenticeship Council.
Apprenticeship training programs are an extension of education and are available for out of school youth and adults.
For more information about the Apprenticeship Program, please contact:
D.C Department of Employment Services
Office of Apprenticeship, Information and Training
4058 Minnesota Avenue, N.E
Washington, DC 20019
(202) 698-5099
Or contact you DOES One-Stop Centers. You may also visit, write, or call employers or unions that have registered apprenticeship programs regarding the trade or occupation of your interest to apply for apprenticeship training.