Alum mentor school’s growing YA program

Lakeside is in its 9th year of offering youth apprenticeship (YA) hours as a course option for juniors and seniors. The program allows students to gain outside work experience during school hours—one hour of release time junior year and up to two hours senior year. Students must work a minimum of 450 hours from June 1-May 31 and maintain a C+ average in all classes. This year, 14 Warriors are apprenticing at workplaces ranging from childcare to banking, from agriculture to construction, from engineering to automotive. Begun under Mr. Jeff Meske in 2017, our new YA advisor, Mrs. Amanda Bosnak, shares, “YA truly offers a unique learning experience for our students and helps them better prepare for their future They are able to get real experience in their chosen field to help them plan for their future. Some of these students will even be offered full-time employment once they graduate.” Here we highlight just a few in place this year, including two that involve Forever Warriors as YA mentor workplaces.

Farah Stuebs (‘25) – Simple Kup, Lake Mills

“I open the shop each morning and make sure everyone gets their caffeine fix,” says Farah, daughter of FW Christian (‘93). Though one perk of the program is not having to be at school right away in the morning, “I have interest in starting a business—this is a great opportunity to see how things run. I get to learn a lot of the behind the scenes of a small business and I’m very fortunate to be able to get a better understanding of whether or not this is something that I would like to do in the future!”

Pete and Katie (Schultz ‘05) Herbst, owners Simple Kup and Herbie’s coffee camper

“We love having employees that have the same values and beliefs as Katie and I. Any time we have a Lakeside student apply, we have an amazing starting point,” says Pete. Transitioning weekend teen staff into weekday staff reduces the need to train new staff when school starts. “That gives our high school staff more experience on a day-to-day basis, which gives them more confidence in their work,” Pete explains. “The [YA] program builds such good character and life experiences for young adults. Communications skills, especially at such a young age, cannot be overstated.”

Noah Hammond (‘25)—Cybersecurity Operations Center, IT dept., UW-Madison

For Noah, YA involves reviewing daily logs and writing reports and tickets based on those logs. “I also examine account activity to determine if an account is compromised,” he shares. “Otherwise, I’m reviewing compliance forms and making accounts for our SIS, JEMS, or ImageNow system.” Son of FW Sarah (Voigt ‘97) Vanderwielen, Noah appreciates YA because of the flexibility. “DOIT requires at least 10 hours per week,” he says, too much if he wasn’t able to work until the school day ended.

Allen Monette, Associate Director, UW Cybersecurity Operations

The Cybersecurity Operations Center (CSOC) has two full-time employees and 18 student analysts who are focused on defending UW’s networks and applications. Because part of the CSOC’s mission is helping the next generation get started in the field, YA is a good fit. “Noah is an ideal employee for us: engaged and excited about the work, conscientious about his schedule and communicating with the team, and overall doing everything we expect from our students,” says Monette.

Kayla Hirschfeld (‘25) Forward Management

This Madison firm gives Kayla experience in admin, accounting, finance and marketing. She’s also experienced the property management side and helped with apartment turnovers. She appreciates getting early exposure as she plans to pursue a business major. The bonus is that “I do this while enjoying my senior year in activities with my friends and extras,” she says. YA has helped her “gain independence, manage my time and gain insight into what I want for a career.”

Christine (Schmidt ‘01) Schwarze Accounting Manager, Forward Management, Inc

“Having Kayla as a student apprentice has been a huge blessing. She learns quickly and adapts to challenges with a positive attitude and willingness to work hard,” says Christine. She appreciates the opportunity to mentor through YA because it “lets them develop key abilities that will be sought after by future employers.” Gaining experience ahead of time helps “provide real-world skills such as teamwork, communication, and problem-solving,” she says.