Latavia Bell, Community Health Worker Apprentice, on Making Apprenticeship Simpler

Intro

Welcome to another episode of our Making Apprenticeship Simpler interview series, where we ask people across the apprenticeship system a single question: "How do we make apprenticeship simpler?"

In this episode, Patrick Cushing talks with Latavia Bell, a community health worker in Saginaw, Michigan, who is finishing a 12-month apprenticeship with three courses of related instruction. Latavia describes how much information hit her all at once at the start, and asks programs to lay out every step, resource and expectation in writing before day one.

If you coordinate a program in healthcare, teaching or another newer apprenticeship field, Latavia's feedback is a practical checklist for making sure apprentices start ready and the tools they rely on actually work.

Highlights

1. Introduction and Background

• Latavia is a community health worker in the Great Lakes Bay Region of Michigan, based in Saginaw

• She is wrapping up a 12-month apprenticeship that included three courses

• Being chosen meant a lot of information all at once, which felt overwhelming at first

2. Making Apprenticeship Simpler

• Give apprentices a tutorial or visual of everything to expect, from the first course to the last

• Make sure the technology, resources and learning tools are reliable before apprentices start

3. The Magic Wand: Lay Out the Path

• Put every step in writing, in detail, so apprentices know what to expect

• Gather the educational tools, advisors and mentors into one set of documents at the start

• One-on-ones with mentors were a real strength of the program

4. Tools That Actually Work

• Juggling several learning systems, each with its own learning curve, adds stress

• Missing study guides kept her from working at her own pace in a self-paced program

• Newer fields like healthcare and teaching often piece resources together, so vetting them matters

5. Closing Thoughts

• Apprenticeship is a pathway, and apprentices need the pathway inside the apprenticeship too

• Coordinators should test every tool so apprentices can focus on work and learning

Transcript

Patrick Cushing:

Hey everybody, this is Patrick with WorkHands, and today we're doing another Making Apprenticeship Simpler interview. We're going to be talking about how to make things simpler from the perspective of apprentice, Latavia Cooper-Bell. Latavia, I'd love to hear a bit more about yourself, your experience with the apprenticeship, and then we could dive into our one question for the day.

Latavia Bell:

Hey, thank you very much, Patrick. So my name is Latavia. I'm a community health worker in the Great Lakes Bay Region of Michigan, located in Saginaw. And I am wrapping up my apprenticeship. It's been 12 months. It'll be officially the first week of October that I am done. And there have been 3 courses that I've had to take. And the initial process, finding out that I was chosen to be a part of it, there was a lot of information being thrown at me all at once. It was kind of overwhelming at first. But, you know, just taking my time and really studying the material and following as closely as I can, I did my best to get through it. The fact that I'm a seasoned community health worker probably helped with that as well. But in the future, I would like to see more of a tutorial, you know, something that we can be prepared for next steps and just a visual of all the things that we are to expect from the very beginning of the course to the very end. So that is something that I would like to see for future apprentices. Also, just making sure that, you know, the technology is at its optimal capability. I understand that there are going to be some hiccups, but for the most part, making sure that the technology and the resources and the educational tools are reliable and ready for the apprentices to use. So that is, yeah, my, you know, my hope for the future apprentices.

Patrick Cushing:

Yeah, that's great. Because I think, you know, certainly something we see, especially with the newer industries in apprenticeship, like historically apprenticeship was a lot of skilled trades, they had a training center. As more programs come on board in healthcare and teaching, we're cobbling together a lot of resources, and you're often in kind of a position of being the guinea pig, right? And so, you know, Latavia, you spoke to some of this, but if I put it a different way, if I was to give you a magic wand, like what would be like the one major thing you would make simpler for apprentices at large who are in your position where you're dealing with multiple different online resources as part of that related training, the coursework that goes through your apprenticeship?

Latavia Bell:

I would say if with a magic wand, I would just pretty much say, just making sure everything is laid out, you know, that the person is prepared, like, in very detailed steps in writing on what to expect. The actual support, as far as, like, the mentors, those were great, you know, doing one-on-ones, those were great. Again, I understand it's a new process, but moving forward, like, every— from the very top of the apprenticeship, the educational tools that we have, the advisors, the mentors, all those things should be compiled all in documents for the apprentice to have and to be ready to start the journey. And also, I don't know if I mentioned a tutorial, a video of steps and what to expect. Those would be something that I can just think of off the top of my head. And then the schoolwork, it was very challenging, but just making sure that the technology is up to date, all the tools are there, and that there aren't any issues where, you know, study guides and, you know, certain things are not accessible. Even though it's a self-paced program, I wasn't able to do it at the pace that I wanted to because certain things were not available. So, just making sure that those things are in place.

Patrick Cushing:

Fantastic. Yeah, I think, and we had chatted about this before, like you were dealing with multiple different learning management systems, each of which had their own learning curve, different content. Some had issues, some didn't. And so I think you know, really making sure, like you said, there's a clear sense of like, what are all the resources you're gonna be using? When are you gonna be using? And are they actually up and running, you know, for you so that you're not juggling not just work and trying to get the class done, but also trying to navigate a system that isn't quite working. And I think that's fantastic. Like ultimately apprenticeship is supposed to be a pathway, right? Right. But what you're asking for is like, gimme the pathway inside of the apprenticeship. Gimme all the steps. So it's really clearly laid out. And let's have some sense that these tools have been vetted and stress tested to make sure that you're not adding another stressor into what is always, no matter the apprenticeship, no matter the industry, there's a lot to take on.

Latavia Bell:

Right.

Patrick Cushing:

So fantastic. Love that feedback. Latavia, I really appreciate your time going through this with us and sharing perspective. It's something I think a lot of people will relate to, and it's something a lot of coordinators should think deeply about to make sure their program is really set up so the apprentices can succeed. So thanks again, and I appreciate it.

Latavia Bell:

Appreciate you. Thank you.