Partnership Opportunities

Guest Speaker

Serve as a "Hands-on” Guest Speaker, although our CTE programs constantly stress essential (soft) skills and the relevance of core academic skills like math and communication, hearing it from an employer is often more powerful.

Commitment: 1-2 hours per year.

Guest Instructor

Take it a step further and become a Guest Instructor, contribute your industry expertise or the expertise of any employee as a guest instructor in one of our classrooms. It is difficult for our instructors to be experts in every technical skill taught in our classrooms and labs, especially cutting-edge techniques. Please consider coming into a class to train our students periodically or on a regularly scheduled basis.

Commitment: 1-5+ days.

Host a Talent Tour and let students experience the multifaceted career opportunities that exist in your industry, hear from your employees who are living those careers, and see firsthand what your facility looks like (especially important in dispelling "dirty job" misconceptions).

Commitment: 1-2 hours per group.

Host a Teacher Externship, by hosting a teacher (CTE or core academic) or guidance counselor for half-a-day and show them the core competencies required in your industry and the exciting opportunities that exist for their students. Teachers will better understand which skills they need to emphasize and guidance counselors will be more informed and more open to "steering" students towards your industry.

Commitment: 3-4 hours per teacher/group of teachers.

Job Shadowing

Provide Job Shadowing Opportunities. If you cannot commit to an internship, please consider providing job shadowing opportunities to a high school student considering your career pathway.

Commitment: 3-6 hours per student.

Student Internship

Host a Student Internship, which gives high school seniors the opportunity to "test drive" a career for up to a full school year. Internship is an extension of Career and Technical Education programs in our local high schools. Internship is considered a vocational education class offered by your business for the benefit of the student. Training can be stopped for any reason and at any time by you, the school, a parent or student. Students receive school credit and letter grades. Our Work Based Learning Coordinator will walk you through all of the steps required to host a student, learn what you are looking for, and screen all applicants to provide you with a mature, talented young person you just might want to hire. The normal period of Internship is the nine-month school year for 10 hours per week.

Commitment: 18 - 36 weeks. The normal period of Internship is the nine-month school year for 10 hours per week.

Cooperative Work Based Learning Program

Host a Cooperative Work Based Learning Program, which is similar to an internship. This is a growing trend in CTE, especially where qualified instructors are difficult to find. The WBL program is a partnership between high school programs and industry where the industry hosts students and provides their employees as instructors. This opportunity would be reserved for only the very best CTE students, those who have their proven maturity and work ethic in previous CTE courses. This provides employers the opportunity to recruit future employees from the best local talent.

Commitment: 9 months.

Pre-Apprenticeship/Registered Apprenticeship

Provide a Pre-Apprenticeship/Registered Apprenticeship. Apprenticeship is a flexible training strategy that can be customized to meet the needs of any business. Apprentices receive hands-on training from an experienced mentor at the job site. On the job training focuses on the skills and knowledge an apprentice must learn during the program to be fully proficient on the job. This training is based on national industry standards, customized to the needs of the particular employer. Education partners collaborate with business to develop the curriculum, which often incorporates established national-level skill standards. The related instruction may be provided by community colleges, technical schools, or apprenticeship training schools - or by the business itself. It can be delivered at a school, online, or at the job site. Apprentices receive wages when they begin work, and receive pay increases as they meet benchmarks for skill attainment. Every graduate of a Registered Apprenticeship program receives a nationally-recognized credential.

Commitment: 1-4 years.

Assist with developing professional skills by conducting Mock Interviews. As part of the employability standards taught in all of our CTE programs, many programs provide their students with instruction on how to secure a job, including resume writing and mock interviews. These mock interviews are usually conducted one day each year. Please let us know if you are willing to interview our students. We guarantee you will walk away impressed and you just might find your next star employee.

Commitment: 3-6 hours per session.

Become an Advisory Committee Member Volunteer as an advisory committee member for a high school CTE program that corresponds to your business/industry. Your guidance and innovative ideas will help our CTE programs become more relevant and better prepare students for their future. Advisory committees typically meet twice each year.

Commitment: 3-4 hours per year.

Judges are needed for competitions throughout the school year. High school CTE students have the opportunity to demonstrate their skills at competitions throughout the Upper Peninsula. These day-long events bring the best-of-the-best of high school CTE students together. The following is a partial list of annual CTE competitions.

Business Professionals of America (BPA) Regionals

• Typically in January
• Bay College, Escanaba
• Learn about Business Professionals of America (BPA) and how you can get involved at Business Professionals of America and Michigan Business Professionals of America

Health Occupations Students of America (HOSA) Regionals

• Typically in February
• Bay College, Escanaba
• Learn more about the Health Occupations Students of America (HOSA) and how you can get involved at Health Occupations Students of America

U.P. CTE Skills Day Challenge

Construction, Welding, Automotive Service Technology and Computer Aided Drafting & Design

• Typically in April
• Northern Michigan University's Jacobetti Complex
• Commitment: 4-8 hours

Donating Surplus Equipment and Materials greatly assists our CTE programs that operate on a shoestring budget, which sometimes limits the student’s practice of technical skills. Many industry partners have contributed used equipment when they bring new machinery online. Industry partners are also conscious of donating materials to high school programs rather than scrapping the surplus/waste.

Commitment: value of donation.