A Wisconsin nonprofit is bridging the gap between high school education and the workforce, giving students hands-on career experience while helping employers develop their next generation of workers.
WATCH: This Wisconsin program turns high school students into skilled workers
GPS Ed, a nonprofit organization founded in Wisconsin, operates eight regional education centers across southeast and northeast Wisconsin that connect high school students with industry partners for work-based learning opportunities.
Andrew Zimdars, Director of Partner Services at GPS Ed, said the program has grown significantly since its founding.
"What started as a small program back in 2000 with just a couple of students, one school partner, and one industry partner has grown to our eight regional education centers," Zimdars said. "We have graduated over 1400 students and now work with over 100 business partners and 50 school partners as well."
What makes the model unique is that employers are true partners, not just hosts. Students build careers, employers grow their talent pipeline, and mentors become more connected to their work.
"When employers invest in students today, they're building the workforce they'll need tomorrow," Zimdars said.
At GPS Ed's location inside Lakeside Manufacturing in West Milwaukee, students split their time between classroom instruction and hands-on work experience.
Pierre Couture, Work-Based Learning Coordinator at GPS Ed, described what makes the Ed Center distinctive.
"Students spend part of their time in the classroom learning their academics, and then the other half of the day they're actually at the workplace applying those skills they've learned, " Couture said. "And not just technical skills, but skills like accountability, fortitude, showing up on time every day, and being what the workplace needs."
Couture said the program focuses on employability skills alongside technical training — including communication, problem-solving, and accountability. Some students complete their work hours at Lakeside, while others head out to different partner businesses.
Industry partners also benefit from the arrangement. Zimdars said participating businesses report increased employee engagement.
"They really get to engage with our students and train the next generation of their workforce, and they even see internally their employees getting more engaged in their work because of the fact that they get to now train this young person and really invest and impart that knowledge with them," Zimdars said.
GPS Ed is actively seeking more industry partners to expand the program's reach.
"Students are looking for those industry partners to be able to provide those experiences to help them understand where they're headed in life and to give them those skills they'll need after high school," Zimdars said. "So we really need more industry partners to step up and help us with those experiences and those work-based learning opportunities."
I first connected with Zimdars at a Let's Talk West Bend listening session, where he shared details about the program.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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