Chicago Students and Employers Celebrate Youth Apprenticeships at Career Launch Chicago Announcement Day

This fall, 32 Chicago Public Schools students and recent graduates will get ready to launch their careers—some before they’ve even started their senior year.

The unique opportunity to gain critical career skills and real-world experience is made possible through the Career Launch Chicago program, part of the Chicago Roadmap. The program pairs selected students with paid youth apprenticeship positions at notable employers across the city.

The second cohort of students to participate in Career Launch Chicago joined their employer partners at an “Announcement Day” at Malcolm X College on Friday, July 28, 2023. The employers each announced the names of their youth apprentices, congratulating them and sharing company-branded gifts to help the students get excited about the opportunity to come. The youth apprentices also received free iPads at the event.

Beyond gaining valuable work experience and exploring in-demand career paths, the students get paid for the hours they work. And for those still in high school, they earn CPS credit for their participation as they travel from their school campuses to their job sites after class. This year’s cohort is working in some of Chicago’s most in-demand industries at companies like Advocate Health Care, Education Systems Center at Northern Illinois University, Gerber Collision & Glass, Northwestern Medicine, PAC Leaders, and Rush University Medical Center.

Lauren Parsons, a rising senior at William Howard Taft High School, will start her youth apprenticeship at Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in just a few weeks. Lauren will serve as a pharmacy tech assistant and is looking forward to gaining real-world experience and earning a paycheck before she graduates high school.

“Since I was young, I’ve known that I want to work in the healthcare field. I even dressed up as a doctor for Halloween in preschool,” Lauren said. “Career Launch Chicago gives me the opportunity to explore my career options and see if I like the pharmacy field. I’m going to gain hands-on experience and make money through this youth apprenticeship.”

Career Launch Chicago is one of several initiatives the Chicago Roadmap has implemented to help Chicago students transition to and through college and on the way to their chosen careers. To learn more about the Chicago Roadmap, visit www.chicagoroadmap.org.