Building Pathways: How Apprentice Ready+ Connects Education, Career Exploration, and Opportunity

The Apprentice Ready+ program was designed to combine three things that are rarely offered together: completion of a high school diploma, hands-on exposure to the building trades, and individualized career support. Through a partnership between the Karen Organization of Minnesota and Roseville Adult Learning Center, students earn credentials while exploring career options and building the skills needed to pursue stable, family-supporting careers. Judy Karasch, Job Developer, and Ismail Assir, Work Experience and Placement Navigator, help guide students through that process.

Pictured above: Apprentice Ready+ Diploma program students did final presentations on May 15, pictured here with instructors and a volunteer from the Roseville Adult Learning Center.

Hands-On Learning and Exploration

What makes the program unique is that students do not learn in theory alone. While earning their diplomas, they experience different trades through hands-on projects, visits to union training centers, and conversations about career pathways. Students learn practical math through measuring, angles, and construction applications rather than abstract worksheets. At the same time, Karasch and Assir work with students on career exploration, helping them think about questions such as whether they prefer working indoors or outdoors and what kind of future they want to build. The team introduces students to opportunities that can provide long-term growth, including union careers that offer strong wages, benefits, and security.

Connecting Experience to Opportunity

One of the greatest challenges, according to Karasch and Assir, is not teaching technical skills. It is helping students recognize the value of experiences they already have and become comfortable talking about themselves in interviews. Many participants come with significant life and work experience but do not see how those experiences translate to jobs in the United States. They shared the story of Keng, a student born in Laos who worked as a personal care assistant after arriving in the United States. The team learned that Keng had previously driven large trucks through mountain terrain back home. He had never considered that experience relevant to opportunities here. Helping students identify those strengths and confidently communicate them is one of the most important parts of the program.

Keng’s journey became one of the year’s most memorable success stories. Interested in a new opportunity but initially hesitant, he worked with Assir and Karasch on interview preparation, practiced responses, and learned what to expect from a panel interview. They emphasized simple but important lessons: arrive early, prepare, and remember to smile. Assir encouraged him to trust himself and connect naturally with the interviewers. Keng carried those lessons into his interview and was accepted into the Minnesota Department of Transportation’s Transportation Associate Program. The nine-month apprenticeship-style program allows participants to rotate through multiple departments, from signs and guardrails to bridge work and snow operations, before deciding where they want to specialize. That opportunity to explore different kinds of work increases the likelihood that participants will find careers they genuinely enjoy. For Karasch and Assir, interview preparation goes beyond getting a job. Learning to advocate for yourself, communicate clearly, and adapt to new expectations are life skills that students will carry with them long after the interview ends.

Success Beyond the Program

Even after graduation, the support continues. Karasch and Assir stay connected with students, share job leads, and encourage graduates to build relationships and help one another succeed. Reflecting on what Apprentice Ready+ means to her, Karasch said, “We’re changing someone’s life. We give them every opportunity we can to be successful, and they have to meet us part of the way.” Assir added that although Apprentice Ready+ is a short-term program, students leave with hands-on skills, stronger confidence, and a clearer vision of where they want to go next.

Want to help students like Keng build confidence for their job interviews? Volunteer with us as a mock interviewer once a month or once a quarter and make a real difference in someone’s life. See more details and how to get connected here.

One of our KOM mock interview volunteers shared, “It is important to me that in my retirement I can give back to the community, and I am so glad I found KOM! It’s been rewarding, enlightening and just plain fun!”