Central Illinois union painter shares the value of apprenticeships in a statewide professional development program - Addy Carnahan, Lauren Warnecke, WGLT NPRIllinois

Jalissa Jones, also from ISU's Center for Specialized Professional Support, said people tend to think of apprenticeships being exclusively related to trades, but that's not always the case. “Another really vital part of this program is the idea of changing people's minds about what apprenticeships and what apprentices look like,” she said. “It can be in medical field. It could be in cybersecurity or insurance. There's a lot of insurance apprenticeships, which is not something I knew before I started working at this job.…I think that is the forward face of apprenticeship.”

https://www.nprillinois.org/illinois/2026-04-09/central-illinois-union-painter-shares-the-value-of-apprenticeships-in-a-statewide-professional-development-program