Apprenticeship program success stories help us promote the tremendous value that these programs bring to employers, employees, and job seekers. Keep reading below for the answers from a recent success story: a new LPN apprentice from the new RA program at Singing River.
What is your name, title, and the organization for which you work?
Joann Wright, LPN. Apprenticeship, Singing River Health Systems.
Describe your organization’s apprenticeship program? Please include the value the program brings to apprentices and the community?
It’s a program that provides education and on-the-job training to become an LPN.
Describe your connection to the Registered Apprenticeship (RA) program? Please include why you believe RA is a critical workforce development solution.
RA programs give someone like me who has a family and can’t stop working in order to go to school a chance to better themselves.
What are some successes you’ve experienced with the apprenticeship program? If possible, please include specific examples of successes.
I am able to go to nursing school, something I didn’t think I would be able to do.
Why is apprenticeship important for people entering the workforce or looking for a new career opportunity?
It gives you on-the-job training while working with a company to have a job at the end of that training.
What would you say about apprenticeship programs to other business leaders who are considering starting a program?
It gives the business the opportunity to find qualified workers who can’t do traditional education programs.
What would you say to a student or job seeker who is thinking about pursuing an apprenticeship program?
I’d tell them to do it. It gives you the opportunity to follow your dream in a non-traditional way.
How do you believe apprenticeship programs add to a vibrant workforce development culture in Mississippi? Please also share how you believe the RA program at your organization will contribute to creating a thriving local community?
It will help with the staffing shortages we have. It will also give us the staff we need to provide safe care to patients.
Is there anything else you want to add?
They will benefit Mississippi greatly by providing staffing for the areas we are short-staffed in.
