Let’s celebrate! This Spring cycle, 146 new apprentices were hired by employers across Colorado. To make this happen, CareerWise onboarded more than a dozen new business partners including BI Inc in Boulder, FirstBank in Northern Colorado, and R&H Mechanical in Eagle County, and we expanded our program into the communities of Pueblo, Summit County and Roaring Fork Valley. 

The Denver metro area launched the CareerWise nursing apprenticeship with HCA/HealthOne, recruiting more than 50 high school students for six hospitals. We also added two new apprenticeship pathways: Culinary and Paralegal. 

Hyatt Regency: Daveigh Whitaker

Daveigh, a 2022 graduate of Westminster High School, is the new culinary apprentice at Denver’s Hyatt Regency. “I am surrounded by people I look up to, and I have already noticed how important teamwork is in the kitchen,” Daveigh said. After taking a beginner culinary class at her school, Daveigh was selected as a teaching assistant during her senior year – making her a strong applicant for Hyatt’s hiring managers. “I love culinary and I am happiest when I am preparing something for others to enjoy.” Over the next two years of her apprenticeship, Daveigh will have lots of opportunities to do just that. Her favorite thing to make? Cupcakes!

Polsinelli PC: Michelle Martinez Barrandey 

Michelle describes herself as someone who is constantly thinking about her future and her career. The rising senior at Westminster High School is eager to begin networking with the attorneys at Polsinelli who can help her along the way. “Traditionally, opportunities within law have been granted to individuals with prior experience and exposure,” Michelle said. “Still being a high school student with no experience in law, I was beyond interested when I read about the paralegal apprenticeship with Polsinelli.” Michelle is quick to point out the difference between an apprenticeship and a typical teenage job: “Skills from an apprenticeship cover a broad spectrum of your future instead of teaching you one specific task that, while valuable, is only applicable to one season of your life.”