Century High School junior Yuvindu Chandrasinghe is getting practical engineering experience at Tosoh Quartz as part of a Hillsboro School District apprenticeship program. The program is the first of its kind in Oregon. (Photo courtesy of Hillsboro School District)
High school junior Yuvindu Chandrasinghe was thinking about getting a job preparing sandwiches at a fast food place. Instead, he is preparing tools as an apprentice at Tosoh Quartz, a glassware manufacturer for the semiconductor industry.
Chandrasinghe is enrolled in a high school apprenticeship program, the first of its kind in Oregon. He earns a good wage while also picking up class credit. He has met an engineering mentor and is working toward a manufacturing technician certification. He’s not sure what he will do after high school, but “at the very least, this looks good on a resume,” he said.
The Hillsboro School District is helping its high school students prepare for their futures with a unique apprenticeship program. Five Century High School students are on their way to a manufacturing technician accreditation that can land them a good job all over the United States or keep them working in their community, including with their current employers.
Hillsboro thinks other districts could follow suit with industries important to their areas, such as agriculture or health care.
“Now that we have broken the seal, hopefully other districts can use our example,” said Hillsboro Board Chair Mark Watson.
The trick was getting the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries to approve the program. The district worked with city leaders and businesses to identify area needs and design a program for students ages 16-18 within the state employment regulatory agency’s rules.
Career and technical education programs all over Oregon give students a chance to sample careers and prepare for further education in college or a career program. The Hillsboro program goes one step further and prepares students to step into a career as soon as they graduate from high school.
The two-year advanced manufacturing apprenticeship sequence launched this year. Students learn in career and technical education classes as well as getting paid for spending part of school days working in one of this year’s two partners, Tosoh and manufacturer Jireh Semiconductor.
Students who complete the program with 266 hours of training and 1,000 hours on the job will receive accreditation and be certified to work anywhere as a manufacturing technician.
The district helps with things like transportation to the jobs to make the program more accessible. The district didn’t want the apprenticeships to interfere with students’ ability to do extracurriculars either. Students can work during morning or afternoon block school hours and then pick up additional hours on weekends or school breaks.
Junior Creighton Barehem said the program’s flexibility is key for him. During the fall, he worked for Jirah in the mornings because he had band in the afternoon. Barehem said he may go to trade school after high school but he also may stay with Jirah.
The students, some who plan to go on to college, say the program is opening their eyes to possible careers in their hometown.
Junior Conall Fossoy, who works for Jirah, wants to study engineering in college, but “engineering” is a big field. His experience is helping him narrow his focus as well as giving him a practical understanding of theoretical machining challenges.
Ashley Espinoza, a member of the BOLI Oregon State Apprenticeship and Training Council, called Hillsboro’s apprenticeship program “the perfect model.”
“This is how we see people getting interested,” she said. “Earning while learning is a huge incentive.”
Students this year started out at $16 an hour and will get a step increase next year to around $18 an hour to match the companies’ entry wages.
The program requires committed business partners, though, said Espinoza, a Bethel School Board member.
“On paper, it sounds great,” she said. “In function, it’s not that easy.”
Espinoza said the program requires a “joint apprenticeship training committee” that involves administrative work and extra reporting. Businesses must meet requirements that might not be in line with usual business practices, she said.
Chris Carlson, Tosoh Quartz human resources manager, said the difficulty filling positions is reason enough for Hillsboro businesses to get involved.
“Everybody is singing the same sad song: We can’t find people,” said Carlson.
Tosoh’s involvement has been worth it, Carlson said. Tosoh hopes some of the students will stay on because there is no formal training for the company’s type of work “west of New Jersey,” Carlson said. He said that even if the students go to college, Tosoh will have gained two years of labor and the potential to rehire an even better trained employee after college.
School district leaders credit the school board with creating an environment that fosters innovative pilot programs.
Watson said the board would like to see the program include more students, more business partners and more industries.
“Our job is to look to the future,” he said. “While this thing is going great, we’re wondering what the next thing is.”
The district is looking to expand the program to Hillsboro High School next year and has lined up Cascade Systems Technology as another partner, according to Claudia Rizo Mendoza, the apprenticeship coordinator. This year’s students will enter their second years, and a handful of new juniors will begin.
Assistant Superintendent Travis Reiman said the program helps students who are trying to decide whether to pursue more education or go to work to support their families.
“It’s a luxury for a student to be able to graduate from high school and then go discover herself,” said Reiman, who will become superintendent in July.
Junior Reese Bond is doing glass welding for Tosah. At the start of the year, he was considering a typical teen retail job. Now he’s at a job that impresses his friends and makes his parents look at him differently, he said. And a high-tech job now feels attainable.
“I’m working toward a future, something better than working at a gym,” he said. “The work experience is much better than sitting in a classroom learning about work experience.”
– Jake Arnold, OSBA
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Century High School junior Reese Bond said his Tosoh Quartz apprenticeship has introduced him to a new career possibility. (Photo courtesy of Hillsboro School District)
