Originally posted on WXXV25.
This week marks the eighth annual National Apprenticeship Week. The City of Pascagoula and Ingalls Shipbuilding are showing how much they appreciate their apprentices.
Apprenticeship Week is a time to celebrate those men and women in training to become full time workers at certain organizations.
While this is a national celebration, officials at Pascagoula City Hall are showing their appreciation on a more personal level by adopting a proclamation officially approving the recognition of the special week in the city. Training Rep and former apprentice Lloyd Stringer said, “It makes me feel so wonderful, so wonderful being an apprentice one time, being an alum now. It’s like Christmas.”
To help celebrate this proclamation, Ingalls Shipbuilding held a party where apprentices with the company gathered at the Maritime Training Academy for good food and good spirit.
City Manager Michael Silverman read the proclamation to the crowd. “It’s an extremely special moment just to be a part of such an amazing company and part of such an amazing community. I think these workers are crucial to our economy and crucial to the safety of this country.”
Ingalls has about 300 apprentices under its wing, who focus on a variety of different skills, each crucial to the workforce. “It’s a wide variety from pipe fitters to welders that helps build the great ships that Ingalls produces.”
This program is key for the shipyard because it helps bring in highly skilled workers to the team in an effective and efficient way. “The apprentices are the future of the shipyard. They are the future of the community because without the shipyard and the apprenticeship, we would have a lot of unskilled craftsmen.”
