The Virginia Registered Apprenticeship (RA) is a training system that produces highly skilled
workers to meet the demands of employers competing in a global economy, through a
combination of on-the-job training and theoretical classroom instruction. It is a “win-win”
approach to workforce development for more than 13,000 apprentices (employees) throughout
the Commonwealth.
Roanoke County Public Schools, Roanoke City Public Schools, Botetourt County Public Schools
and Salem City Public Schools are partnering with local businesses to provide RA opportunities
for juniors and seniors – forming the largest regional apprenticeship program in Virginia.
Each year the new apprentices joining the program are introduced at a Salem Red Sox game. The
new Student Registered Apprentices for 2025 were recognized at the game on “Educator’s
Night” on May 2.
Three students from William Byrd High School are joining the program: Lucas Partleton, Royce
Apple, and Ashley Arven. Partleton will be an apprentice for Hopkins-Lacy; Apple will enter the
Hotel Roanoke & Conference Center program; Arven will be working with the YMCA of
Virginia’s Blue Ridge.
Students must be 16 and up by the start-date of their apprenticeship to participate. They may start
their apprenticeship over the summer but must begin by the start of the school year.
Local businesses offering apprenticeships in the upcoming 2025-2026 school year include:
Advanced Machining Solutions, Archer Western/Walsh Group, Balzer and Associates, Double
Envelope, EC Pace, First United Methodist Church Salem Preschool, Fort Lewis Baptist Church
Preschool, G& H Contracting, Grand Home Furnishings, Hotel Roanoke and Conference Center,
Hopkins Lacy-Branch, Integer, Medeco, Optical Cable Corporation, Roanoke County Public
Schools, Varney Inc., WABTEC Graham White, Western Virginia Water Authority, and the
YMCA.
This program is not an internship – apprentices are actually employed by the company. Through
the apprenticeship program, students can learn many skills all while earning a paycheck, high
school credit, and an industry credential that means they could go straight into the workforce
after high school graduation. For students, apprenticeships can lead to careers. For employers,
apprenticeships can help companies train future workers and fill open jobs.
According to program organizers, “The Registered Apprenticeship program was designed in the
late 1930s by the Roosevelt administration. Managed by the Dept. of Labor and Industry in
Virginia, the RA program offers a unique work-based learning model for 16- to 18-year-old
students.
“Participants in the program work towards credentials associated with each business through
employment training and instruction.”
In signing the apprenticeship agreement, students make a commitment to maintaining good
grades in school and working part-time at the business under specific Virginia Department of
Labor and Industry regulated conditions toward becoming a highly trained and credentialed
employee of the business.
The process of being selected for the apprenticeship program includes students being screened
by school system officials to ensure graduation requirements can be met plus an interview with
the business.
Student apprentices work approximately 20 hours per week. Most RA positions require a
minimum of 2,000 on the job hours and 144 hours per year of industry-related instruction.
Students receive school credit for their apprenticeship. Their schedules are arranged in a manner
agreed upon by the student, parent, school system, and employer.
At the May 2 signing ceremony, students and representatives from their partner companies were
introduced by Chuck Lionberger, Roanoke County Schools Director of Community Relations.
Educator’s Night also provides the Salem-Roanoke County Chamber of Commerce the
opportunity to present scholarships to local students from Roanoke County and Salem City.
William Byrd’s Elijah Blanton, a graduating senior, received a scholarship for $2,000 from the
Chamber Foundation.
Roanoke Chamber of Commerce.
