FARMINGTON – A former student of the Foster Regional Applied Technology Center visited the school Wednesday to tell students about a four-year apprenticeship program at a Kittery shipyard.
Fran Orcutt of Sanford, 25, formerly of Farmington, is a sheet metal worker at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard. Orcutt earned student of the year honors at Foster Tech and was named outstanding graduate of the program at the shipyard in previous years.
Orcutt and Bill Higgins, shipyard sheet metal instructor, gave out information packets about the program to those interested.
The four-year apprenticeship program is a comprehensive training plan that combines paid academic instruction provided by a technical college, technical training in the trade provided by qualified instructors, and periods of on-the-job experience listed in an approved curriculum.
The program provides the participant with Department of the Navy and Department of Labor certificates of apprenticeship.
Individuals hired into the program work full-time, with beginning pay at $14.62 an hour, Orcutt said. Shift differential rates are given on top of the base pay at 7.5 percent for the second shift and 10 percent for third shift.
Apprenticeships are available in various trades and areas, including sheet metal mechanic, shipfitter, welding, machinist, air conditioning and refrigeration, fabric worker, painter blaster, marine electrician and heavy mobile equipment mechanic.
Academic classes are conducted at the shipyard during the evening and trade training is typically conducted during the day.
Applications are being accepted for the program through May 18, Orcutt said.
“It is definitely a great opportunity,” said Orcutt, who participated in the program while attending Eastern Maine Community College.
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