Letter from AJAC’s Executive Director on COVID-19

During these unprecedented times, AJAC understands the disruption this crisis has caused in many lives.  Our top priority is to ensure apprentices can continue to learn and instructors are able to teach in environments that are safe, healthy and greatly reduce exposure to COVID-19. Apprentices tend to be hands-on learners and as an apprenticeship organization, our style of teaching has always been conducted in an applied manner to meet the learning needs of apprentices.

The COVID-19 global pandemic has challenged the way we provide applied learning across the state of Washington. As a result, many of our courses have been moved to an online platform so when we all come through this challenging time together, apprentices and employers will be poised to help restart the economy as part of Washington State’s highly-skilled workforce.

As a registered apprenticeship organization approved through the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries (L&I), we are required to provide Related Supplemental Instruction for spring quarter to the best of our abilities in an accessible and equitable manner.  We acknowledge online instruction may pose accessibility, connectivity and anxiety for some apprentices. We also realize tuition may be of concern during these times.  All of AJAC’s staff are available to address your concerns and to help eliminate these challenges.

For health and safety reasons, in addition to guidelines set forth by the governor and L&I and the subsequent closure of our partnering high schools, community and technical colleges, AJAC has postponed some in-person spring courses which require more in depth hands-on content while converting all other classes to an online platform.

AJAC will continue to have transparent communication with our apprentices, employers, instructors, and partnering educational institutions. As changes occur, we encourage you to visit our COVID-19 web page for the most up-to-date information.

To partnering employers, we are here to answer questions you may have regarding any AJAC training program and specific apprentice questions and/or challenges.

To AJAC apprentices, I want to thank you for your patience and flexibility. I encourage you to work with us to make the best of the situation, to continue your education and to reach out to AJAC staff if you have concerns, anxiety, questions, tuition concerns and accessibility/connectivity challenges.

Last but not least, I would like to thank the amazing AJAC instructors who dedicate countless hours every year to pass on their knowledge to our apprentices. Their willingness to step up to the challenge, adapt, and remain positive has not been easy and our entire staff is incredibly thankful for your dedication to the teaching of our apprentices.

Sincerely,

Demetria “Lynn” Strickland
Executive Director
Aerospace Joint Apprenticeship Committee

To view or download the letter in PDF format, please click here

Aaron Ferrell, April 14, 2020

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