Margo: School districts now showing a lot more interest in apprenticeships

MCALLEN, Texas – Dr. Carlos Margo, dean of advanced training and apprenticeships at South Texas College, is excited about a recent trend his department has noticed – school districts wanting to partner customized training and apprenticeships.

And this trend dovetails well with the new name of his department: the Department for Advanced Training and Apprenticeships.

“In the last couple of years, we’ve been really expanding way beyond business and industry, specifically school districts. What we’re doing with school districts now is not necessarily dual enrollment, which has traditionally been STC’s relationship with school districts. We’re now doing customized training and apprenticeships with many school districts.”

Margo made his comments in a podcast with Rio Grande Guardian anchor Mark Hanna. Much of the hour-long discussion focused on apprenticeships. The podcast was timely because Margo is currently on a tour of Hidalgo and Starr counties promoting the apprenticeship model to private industry.

The next STC Employer Forum takes place at the Center for Education and Economic Development in Mission on July 17, between 10:00 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. “Help students earn while they learn. Join us for an informational session to discover funding availability to support Apprenticeships in your business or industry. Hear firsthand of the benefits from employer testimonials,” a flyer promoting the event states.

In the podcast, Margo was asked to explain what an apprenticeship is and how it differs from an internship.

“So, a registered apprenticeship program, by definition is a student, as long as they’re 16 years of age or older, taking classes at a college, in this case South Texas College, taking college courses but also working at the same time and unlike internships, registered apprenticeship apprentices have to be working year-round,” Margo said.

“Even if they’re working part time, there’s no minimum number of hours. They have to be working year-round in order for them to be an apprentice. That’s the key difference between internships, and a registered apprenticeship. A registered apprenticeship is a lot more structured, and it has a workplace component.”

With a registered apprenticeship program, the on-the-job training must receive the approval of the Department of Labor.

In the podcast, Margo pointed out that STC is not only a training provide but also a federally registered apprenticeship sponsor.

“As a sponsor, we are not only able to provide the coursework in an apprenticeship program, which is called the related instruction, the classroom part. But we’re also able to develop our own programs in-house. You know, we recently developed veterinary technician program because of a request from the school district. We didn’t have to go to any other third-party sponsor. We are a sponsor ourselves. We developed the program in-house, organically, working backwards with local veterinary clinics to develop the curriculum. We submitted this to the Department of Labor, and we got the approval directly.”

In the podcast, Margo said his department could not do the work it does without its partners. He said they include Workforce Solutions, the Texas Workforce Commission, and the various economic development organizations in Hidalgo and Starr counties.

“Without the help of these economic development representatives, we wouldn’t do what we do. Yes, we do have direct relationships with businesses. We’re in partnership with about 60 different employers right now, providing all kinds of training, safety, computers, IT, robotics, you name it, and that’s directly, without necessarily the assistance of EDOs. However, we do need the help of an economic development representatives and personnel to help us get to that next level of workforce development.”

Towards the end of the podcast, Margo made a comment that the Guardian felt should be highlighted in a reel for social media. And it was. Margo said:

“A lot of what I always try to tell people right now is workforce training gives people a purpose, a sense of purpose. And that’s what I think a lot of people need right now. For example, veterans. We’ve got programs that are specific for veterans. Not all veterans are combat veterans, but especially those that were in combat (maybe) suffering from issues. It could be PTSD; it could be anything. They lack that purpose. I mean, they’ve come back from a theater where they were fighting and now it’s totally different being in civilian life. They need to get that sense of purpose. And, again, veterans are just a small example.

“There are other populations all over that need that sense of purpose. Apprenticeships just accelerate that sense of purpose. And I’ll tell you why. Because they’re getting to work from day one. You give somebody training, yes, they feel like they’re motivated. But when you get them training and actually working on something that they feel an accomplishment in… I tell everybody look, just accomplish a small goal, or a small objective, one step at a time and then work on the next one. That’s how you get people out of poverty, out of situations, out of circumstances (where) they feel hopeless and out of control.”

Editor’s Note: Here is the full-length video podcast with Dr. Margo:

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