The apprenticeship approach: tailor-made for young adolescents

I had the chance to participate in Opportunity Nation’s Opportunity Summit in Washington DC. The annual event convenes a great number of organizations, including Spark, partnering to provide pathways to education, employment and ultimately prosperity for what are called “opportunity youth.” These are young people aged 16-25 who have dropped out of school or have graduated but have not attained post-secondary training or a degree and are therefore unable to obtain meaningful and steady employment.

There are more than six million opportunity youth currently in this country. It is estimated that the macroeconomic costs of all opportunity youth total more than $6 trillion over their collective lifetimes (a million dollars each), as they draw more from society than they are able to contribute to it.

Spark is engaged in this movement even though our students are younger than those addressed by most others within the Opportunity Nation coalition. Our role, of course, is in identifying young people who are showing early warning signs that they may migrate into this category. Participating in Spark keeps them engaged, on track and ready to graduate high school on time and be successful beyond.

Interestingly, our approach with 13 and 14 year-olds in the middle grades is nicely aligned with many of the strategies employed for older youth. One method that has gained momentum in recent years is the apprenticeship.

There are thousands of registered apprenticeships, cataloged and designated by the Department of Labor. They run the gamut from “traditional” trades like plumbing, utility work and carpentry to new occupations generated by the computer and information age, such as computer technicians and network administrators. Importantly, earning an apprenticeship certificate is portable. They are recognized across states, just as post secondary degrees are. There’s legislative work underway to support these types of apprenticeships. Senator Cory Booker and Senator Tim Scott introduced The Leveraging and EnergizingAmerica’s Apprenticeship Programs or “LEAP” Act to increase apprenticeships through a new federal tax credit for employers. 

Spark calls its project-based learning experiences with engaging mentors in exciting workplaces “apprenticeships.” While these opportunities are not officially registered apprenticeships designed to connect people directly to specific careers, they nevertheless embody the spirit of the apprenticeship approach for younger students. The experience is hands-on, experiential, embedded within the workplace, and guided by an expert mentor.

Our belief is that Spark’s apprenticeship approach is uniquely suited for young adolescents. The middle grades are notoriously challenging for youth. This is the period when students begin to really disengage. Gallup conducts an annual poll of students – some half a million in the sample each year – that measures, as they categorize it, their hope, wellbeing and engagement. Hope and wellbeing actually remain reasonably steady from fifth grade to twelfth grade. Meanwhile, engagement drops. And two-thirds of that drop occurs in the middle grades – sixth, seventh and eighth. Other studies have shown that by the time students reach high school, as much as 60% are “chronically disengaged.”

My sense is this disengagement is driven by a mismatch between the teaching and learning approach in school in these years – which still remains largely didactic in a majority of schools – and what students need in this developmental period. Young adolescents are in an intensified period of identity formation, yet schools rarely tap into their self-interests. They respond most to relationship-based experiences, but their bonds are limited to their teachers and peers, therefore they lack broader social capital. And, they are beginning to think more about their futures, yet they are not offered enough opportunities to explore their options at this stage.

When the organization Get Schooled surveyed students who were chronic absentees, the youth cited their reasons for disengaging: school is “boring” and they didn’t like the subjects. They also indicated what would get them more interested: hands-on activities and a better connection between what there are doing in school and their futures.

Apprenticeships address these needs directly. Obviously, middle grades students are not old enough to engage in registered apprenticeships. But, the apprenticeship approach is uniquely suited to tapping into students’ self-interests, offering a broader set of positive relationships, and examining future professional options. Furthermore, apprenticeships do satisfy young people’s craving for hands-on learning experiences and the connection between education with future careers and the paths to get there.

At Spark, we’d like to see a workplace-based, hands-on learning project become a standard educational experience in the middle grades. It’s the type of opportunity that can get youth fired up about learning, keeping them engaged, on track and ready at a critical inflection point. That’s good for education. It’s good for workforce development. It’s good for young people.

Sparking Interest

I’m guessing it was just jitters. I got a call about an hour before Isiah and my apprenticeship was about to start saying he was not feeling well and may not come. This is not atypical. Leaving their school and home communities, often for the first time, can generate some anxiety among students. Indeed, while Isiah says he has been to downtown Chicago before – even toured the top of the Sears Tower – we know that many young people from the south and west sides of Chicago have never been to the Loop. They have never been in a building with a revolving door or an elevator. They have never seen Lake Michigan, one of the great natural beauties of the mid-west, not even a mile away from where many of our students live.

Exposing young people to different people, communities, indeed “worlds” in the metaphorical sense is a core component of the Spark model. Our intent is never to make any value judgment on one world over another, simply that closing the opportunity gap requires exposing young people, regardless of where they are from, to something different. Minimally, it broadens their point of view, and optimally it provides greater access to more options ahead of them in education and life.

Another practical benefit to venturing beyond their home communities, students have to navigate public transportation – an important skill for many working professionals. Spark students travel in multiples – in the case at Gregory Academy, about thirty all together. They are guided and chaperoned by our staff and parent or community volunteers. They are checked and verified at multiple points along the way. The system is quite robust and reassuring, for mentors, school administrators, parents, and students alike, for the sake of safety.

Isiah rallied, aided by his mother no doubt, and he arrived to a warm welcome at the Spark office. The first apprenticeship session centers on mentors like me getting to know our students more, and also giving them an idea for the company, the job that we do, and the people we work with. I gave Isiah a tour of our office – all 2,000 cozy square feet of it – and introduced him to my colleagues.

As we went along, I found myself still calibrating my words and descriptions to his level of experience and understanding, not wanting to dumb down but also not wanting him to feel lost. For example, I introduced Isiah to Spark’s COO and head of fundraising. To explain what it is that they do for the organization, I asked him how much he thought it costs to run an organization like Spark. After a few seconds of contemplation, he speculated: “A hundred thousand dollars.” On top of my raised eyebrow, I rejoined: “Try three point six million.” Over the next few silent seconds, the expression on his face slowly shifted from surprise to curiosity to excitement as he took this in. We then talked about how we need people who can find that much money for us, getting people to donate, and we also need people to count the money, keep it safe, and pay the bills.

Each apprenticeship session includes a “skill of the week.” These are crucial interpersonal and intrapersonal competencies that young people need to develop in order to be successful in school, in careers, and in life. Indeed, recent reports from the National Academy of Sciences and the University of Chicago among many other research reports have increasingly shown these skills to be as essential as academics.  This week, we focused on networking. I can tell Isiah was already rather adept at networking. And he knew it too. I got him talking about how he meets new people and develops friendships. It’s pretty clear Isiah is a connector. Infectiously likeable, genuine and fun, people are drawn to him.

Our Results: Spark Students Improve Crucial Skills

I told him that a lot of the networking we do in jobs like mine is done in restaurants and coffee shops, as well as at events. Clearly, professionals like to eat and drink. Or rather, we like to get out of the office, if you really want the truth. So, after seeking permission from his mother, I took Isiah over to a café in the Sears Tower across the street for our own little networking meeting, so he could get a taste of the experience, as it were.

I could tell he was enamored with the idea. The tea shop is in the airy west side atrium of the building, equipped with comfy chairs. Bright digital displays showcase the drinks on offer, which he selected after some interplay with the counter clerk. He kept mentioning how cool this all was. He said he wanted to come downtown more often. He asked if he could do Spark more than once a week. I confess not knowing if his excitement was driven by the charm of the place or of our engaging conversation, or possibly the number of packets of sugar he added to his drink, which I’m pretty sure exceeded five.

The apprenticeship lasts eight full sessions at the workplace, followed by Discovery Night back at the school. Discovery Night is when all the students and their mentors display the projects they worked on over the course of their apprenticeship. I didn’t expect us to decide upon our project in our first session. But, after talking with Isiah, I got a clear sense of what he was interested in – something that centered on communication, engaging with people, collaborating. So, we bandied a few ideas and rested on one that has some promise. Next week, we’ll map it out. And then the real work of the apprenticeship will begin.

Meeting Isiah

The Scene

The library at James A. Gregory Academy in Chicago’s North Lawndale neighborhood was a nicely air-conditioned and colorful open space on the second floor. I’ve walked into many public schools in my time that were dark, scuffed, cluttered and claustrophobic. But, everything about Gregory was light and lively. There was a lot going on this particular day and into the evening when I arrived – a book fair, some school activities and club meetings, and the Spark Match Event.

The Spark Match Event is the moment when Spark mentors like me meet their students for the first time. I joined a group of 31 adults in the school library; all had signed up for this same experience and were patiently waiting for instructions.

The Mentors 

It was immediately clear that some mentors knew each other. Spark has a number of companies now that routinely host five or more students – indeed some take 30, 40, 50 and more. Given that our model is both staff intensive and highly affected by travel and logistics (students commute from their school campus to their mentors’ workplaces for each apprenticeship session), having larger numbers of students going to one place is a more scalable approach. However, we still have plenty of what I call "onsies" and "twosies," those small businesses and nonprofits that host a student or two. Spark itself counts in that category thanks to employee mentors.

Meeting Our Students 

After a good 45-minute refresher training from two of Spark's program staff, it was finally time for us all to venture downstairs to the auditorium where a group of eager, earnest and excited seventh and eighth graders awaited us with their families.

We were all given the name of our student on a piece of paper, along with a word that was described as “one part of a famous pair.” It’s a cute way to connect the students and mentors and make the "mentoring matches." My slip read “Isiah,” and the term “ham.”

As we entered the expansive room, about 10 students were grouped in front of us. They were each clad with a bright blue polo shirt, adorned with the Spark logo – a thoughtful gesture entirely conceived and created by the teachers and administrators at Gregory.

As the particular group of students standing directly in front of me constituted only one boy and the rest girls, it was pretty obvious whom I should approach. Sure enough, Isiah had a cut of paper of his own with the term “green eggs” on it. And so the match was confirmed. He looked straight at me with a striking wide smile, extended his hand to meet mine, and we greeted.

Getting to Know Each Other 

I was struck not only by how genuine and poised this young man was, but also how comfortable and gracious the initial interaction was. Neither of us felt forced. We were both clearly interested to learn about each other. I began peppering Isiah with questions: 

• “Where do you live?” – just down the street.  
• “Who’s your family?” – mom, stepdad, and two younger sisters.  
• “What food do you like?” – all kinds, especially french fries and crab legs. 
• “What’s your favorite movie?” – favorites in each category, like comedy, action, sci-fi. 
• “What sports do you like?” – basketball and football.

He wanted to introduce me to his mom, who was sitting at the front of the auditorium, so he escorted me down the aisle. When I first saw her, it became clear where this young man got his energy and engaging affect, as well as his big bright smile. Isiah’s mother was effusive, telling me how thrilled she was that her son had this amazing opportunity to participate in Spark. She also wished she had something like Spark when she was growing up. I was really taken by her. Her overt happiness gave me a lift. The cool, almost-best-friend-like interplay she and Isiah displayed was infectious. I just wanted to smile the whole time.

We sorted out all the logistics – him taking the El, me picking him up at the station, making sure his mom had my number. I showed him a picture of the Spark office, so he knew where he’d be spending his time. I confess I felt a bit insecure that he wouldn’t be going to a swanky office on an upper floor of a big high rise like he would have done with one of our company partners. But, I know the adventure for him will be much the same nonetheless.

I left that evening thinking a lot about all the mentors engaged with Spark this session – nearly a thousand, from all stripes, many different fields and all sorts of companies. I wondered what their Match Event experience was like. Did they experience the same emotions? Did they connect with their student? Did they feel emboldened as I did? Did they feel ready to start an amazing experience with a cool kid?

We Are All Mentors

Jason Cascarino
Spark Chief Executive Officer & Mentor

Having the privilege to run a nonprofit centered on mentoring, I find myself routinely reflecting on the power of that practice. It’s been a time-honored – indeed, ancient – method of teaching and learning for young and old alike.

All of us have been mentored at many stages in life. Some relatively brief stints and others longer term relationships. The three that stand out for me run the gamut: a high school coach, a college professor, and my first boss. 

Sure, I’ve had terrific teachers in my life, to say nothing of great family role models who have shaped who I am. But, I admittedly gravitate more toward that small group of wise counselors who took me under their wing for a time. Most continue to do so even today. They are the first I call when I have reason. And when I don’t have one, I make one up, knowing full well I will invariably find something I need that I wasn’t even looking for.

I remember once profusely thanking one of these great influencers for affecting me so much. He all but looked embarrassed accepting the compliment, in an “aw, shucks” sort of way. In part, I think, to deflect, he simply charged me with being a mentor myself. A pay it forward kind of sentiment.

So I’ve taken on mentoring myself – mostly with people who work for me, although I’d like to think my kids see me as a mentor as well. For many people, the mentor-pupil relationship evolves rather organically. You may not even realize it until the relationship has shifted. Your employee leaves, for example, and they tell you how much they’ve learned from you. There are few comments more satisfying.

Now, I’m going to be a mentor for Spark. I’m just shy of nine months into my stint as CEO of Spark, this amazing opportunity to lead an extraordinary group of folks who have been serving thousands of young people all across the country. The spirit and energy my colleagues exude have given me a strong desire to experience this compelling idea first hand and at its core.

Being part of a formal program, the mentoring relationship I’m about to embark upon is both more intentional and more structured. And in some ways, the impact can be more dramatic. The young people we work with are seventh and eighth graders who are showing some signs of disengagement from school. The fact is, most young people at this age show these signs. Unfortunately, students in some communities lack the guidance, support and access to opportunities to help them navigate these challenging years.

I’m delighted to get the chance to mentor in this way, and to document it in this venue. This fall, I’ll be joining nearly a thousand professional men and women from large corporations, small companies, public agencies and nonprofits taking on one-on-one mentoring relationships with young people across four major metropolitan regions Spark serves – San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles, Chicago and Philadelphia. Together, we are shooting for no less than offering exciting, and possibly in some cases life-altering, learning experiences that ensure young people at this critical age are engage, on-track and ready to succeed in high school, college and beyond.

I hope you’ll join me in this adventure: as a follower, as a mentor yourself, as a supporter of Spark and as someone deeply committed to the power of mentoring.