On Thursday, Jan. 17, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., a group of five WV students had the opportunity to experience a day in the life of West Virginia Democratic State Senator, Stephen Baldwin for an apprentice day at the Capitol Complex in Charleston.
This will be the Senator’s third time participating in the apprentice day program. In 2018, Baldwin volunteered with the program to host four students at the Capitol Complex and in 2015, he volunteered to show a group of students how to campaign during his run for the House of Delegates. This apprentice day was held during “Capitol Takeover,” a movement created to empower the next generation to stand against drug abuse and addiction in West Virginia.
Participating students had the opportunity to engage in constituent relations (communicating with folks back home and visitors at the capitol), research issues (on committees and utilizing experts in the field), and to learn the work of legislation (debating and voting on bills in committee and in the Senate).
Samantha Frazier job-shadowed the Senator last year. She says, “The day was hands down, one of the best job shadowing experiences that I have ever had. Senator Baldwin was very friendly and willing to answer any questions we had.”
Christina Entenmann, the organization’s founder and Director for West Virginia states: “Apprentice day is a year-round program and 100 percent free for kids, their families, and businesses. Our goal is to get kids out of the classroom and into the workforce to experience hands-on-learning. We believe that this program can help them focus on a goal for their future and provide a way to build relationships with an industry.”
National Apprentice Day is a nonprofit organization connecting kids to their dream jobs regardless of income, race, gender, educational performance or disability. This program is organized exclusively for educational and charitable purposes, including ancillary activity permissible while maintaining non-profit status, of educating, instructing, and training minors and young adults to develop and improve their knowledge of various trades and occupational skills by way of on-the-job training, job-shadowing, and apprenticeships.
Students interested to sign-up for the apprentice day program are encouraged to visit ApprenticeDay.org/GetStarted. Businesses that would like to learn more about this free program are encouraged to visit ApprenticeDay.org/GiveBack.