The LiNC-IT Youth Pre-Apprenticeship program will pilot innovative work-based learning pathways for autistic high school students. The initiative is led by the North Carolina Business Committee for Education and funded through a grant from Tides Foundation.
Apprenticeships offer a supportive path for receiving a quality education while gaining paid and hands-on experience. Apprenticeships serve as a valuable recruiting and retention tool with access to dedicated workers who are simultaneously gaining the skills and education necessary for career success.
During the summer of 2024, NCBCE’s LiNC-IT Youth Pre-Apprenticeship (LiNC-IT YA) hosted three programs for autistic high school students to give them the opportunity to learn more about the biotechnology industry.
JOHNSTON COUNTY
LiNC-IT Youth Pre-Apprenticeship, the Autism Society of North Carolina (ASNC), and Johnston County Community College held a one-week program at the Johnston County Workforce Development Center. The high school students had the opportunity to conduct experiments in the lab, including blood type analysis, dye electrophoresis and ink chromatography. Through the experiments, they gained valuable skills aligned with the BioWork curriculum. The students also had the opportunity to meet with employees in the industry.
DURHAM COUNTY
In addition to the Johnston County program, LiNC-IT YA and ASNC, along with Durham Public Schools hosted two different groups of autistic high school students at the Biogen Community Lab in Research Triangle Park (RTP). The lab is on the Biogen RTP campus and it is modeled after the working labs used by their employees. The students conducted experiments in the lab, using equipment used in the Biowork industry and gained valuable skills. They also had the opportunity to meet with Biogen employees, who were willing to share about their jobs in the biotechnology industry, tell them about future job opportunities and answer questions.
Contact Kathy Miles (kathy.manningmiles@nc.gov) if you are interested in learning more about the LiNC-IT Youth Pre-Apprenticeship program.