Photo provided Wade Wrapp checks out a patrol vehicle while serving as an apprentice for Columbus Police Department.
Fifth graders from CSA Lincoln enjoyed real-world job practice this week through the Columbus Young Apprentice Project.
To help encourage students to become excited about jobs and begin to think about their future careers, CSA Lincoln has a program where fifth graders receive hands-on working experience in the community. This spring marks the ninth year CSA Lincoln has offered the Young Apprentices program.
CSA Lincoln Principal Brett Findley said that the fifth grade students create their own resumes and practice their interviewing skills before putting those skills to work. Around 25 local agencies or businesses come to the school to interview the students who rank which jobs they might want to try for the day before “hiring” the student as a short-term apprentice or intern.
Different groups from the Columbus Fire Department to law offices and real estate practitioners to pre-K teachers come in to give the students a wide variety of options. The students had the ability to ask questions of Columbus police officers and firefighters, go to court with the lawyers, witness medical practices in a chiropractor’s office and even be teacher for the day.
“It’s great to see the kids get dressed up. They get to experience a real job for a few hours,” Findley said.
Two of those students, Wade Wrapp and Hunter Byrd were hired on as apprentices for the Columbus Police Department.
Wrapp and Byrd worked with Lt. Skylar Berry throughout the day as though they were junior officers themselves. The boys learned about what police officers do and toured the station.
“The old jail cell is always a hit, and the kids got their photo taken behind bars,” Berry said.
Then the students enjoyed discovering different investigative equipment and detective work by learning about fingerprints — how to take, lift and identify them. Berry said he tested their skills by seeing if the boys could match the fingerprint to the correct one of his fingers.
Wrapp and Byrd ended their day with CPD by manning the patrol car and using the lights, sirens and loudspeaker.
“Our hope is that programs like this will help strengthen our relationships with our students and help grow future leaders,” Berry said after his day with his young apprentices.
CSA Lincoln will continue to help students get an early idea on what they might want to be when they grow up by continuing to prepare the fifth graders as future career professionals through the Columbus Young Apprenticeship Project.
