GUC officially kicked off its seventh year of participating in the local Tradesformers program by signing two rising Pitt County School seniors as pre-apprentice lineworkers.
Tradesformers is a youth apprenticeship program designed to connect high school students with growing industry trades in our area. The program was started by local trades companies to address skill needs and gaps. Industry and program partners, like GUC, work closely with Pitt County Schools, Pitt Community College, and other community partners to identify and foster student interest in the trades.
With this year’s program, GUC welcomed two Pre-apprentice Electric Lineworkers, Sophia Bear, a rising senior at D.H. Conley High School, who will be GUC’s first female lineworker; and Brody Fisher, rising senior at South Central High School.
Students who join this program gain on-the-job training and related classroom instruction while also earning a base pay rate and learning valuable skills to advance in their field of interest. To be a part of the Tradesformers program, students must be high school juniors and go through an application and selection process. Once in the program, students can apply to work as Pre-apprentices at participating companies the summer before their senior school year. Throughout their senior year, Pre-apprentices can continue to work 10-20 hours a week.
Pre-apprentices in the Tradesformers program may also be eligible for training and educational funding from the NC Apprenticeship Expansion funds both during and after high school graduation.
In addition, Pre-apprentice Lineworkers have the opportunity to enroll in Nash or Martin Community Colleges’ Electric Line Construction Academy. This is a 16-week program where students can earn a Third-Class Line Construction Certificate. Upon completion of the program, Apprentice Lineworkers are eligible to begin a one-year internship at GUC and may apply for regular employment at GUC should a position become available.