Western Apprenticeship Coordinators Association of Southern Nevada awards glazing apprentice, CSN student Santiago Ricoy with $500 scholarship
LAS VEGAS – To Santiago Ricoy, being the recipient of a $500 scholarship from the Western Apprenticeship Coordinators Association of Southern Nevada was the break he needed. Recently laid off from a job, Ricoy wasn’t sure how he was going to pay for his next semester at the College of Southern Nevada.
The scholarship will allow him to enroll as a full-time student and keep to his dual educational path – as a pre-engineering student at the college and as an apprentice with Glaziers Local 2001.
Although the apprenticeship is free of charge, under his apprenticeship Ricoy is working on his associate of applied science degree with an emphasis in glazing, which requires additional classes at the college.
“When I got the scholarship, I thought, ‘This makes life a lot easier,’” said Ricoy, a graduate of Palo Verde High School. “It makes me more confident. I can do this. I think it’s a gateway to further success.”
With two blood siblings and foster siblings at home, Ricoy, 20, is the oldest child. Being a mentor to foster children makes him want to succeed even more, he said.
“I’m the oldest of my generation in my family, so I’m the example,” he said.
The Southern Nevada association is a nonprofit organization, which doesn’t often receive funding. The College of Southern Nevada received a grant, which gave instructors associated with the group a stipend. Instructors donated their stipends to create the scholarship. In the future, Crystal Slaughter, president, said she hopes the scholarship award can become an annual event and increase in value.
The scholarship opportunity was open to apprentices from all 16 unions in the association, and Ricoy was chosen based on his essay, coordinator recommendation, community service projects, academic achievements and awards. The applications were reviewed by the College of Southern Nevada, and the association’s scholarship committee made the final decision.
“This is a way to help them continue their growth,” said Todd Schneiderman, secretary/treasurer for WACA of Southern Nevada; instructor with the Southern Nevada Operating and Maintenance Engineers Apprenticeship and Training Trust Fund; and one of the instructors who donated his stipend to fund the scholarship. “An apprenticeship isn’t an alternative to college. It’s a lateral move. Our classes are also college accredited. We’re college also.”
Glaziers fabricate and install all glazed building materials and systems including aluminum storefront, curtain wall, ribbon wall and metal framed windows as well as glass, mirror and insulated glass units.
The Western Apprenticeship Coordinators Association of Southern Nevada consists of administrators and/or training coordinators of apprenticeship training programs in Southern Nevada as well as associate members who have a vested interest in apprenticeship such as community college administrators and government, public and private agencies. Currently, there are 16 apprenticeship programs represented in the Southern Nevada association.
The purpose of the association is to provide a medium for the exchange of ideas, methods and information relative to apprenticeship training, journeyman training and other areas of training as required by industry. The association also promotes and educates the community about the value and benefits of a career through apprenticeship. Apprenticeships and trades involved with the Southern Nevada association include bartenders, brick, tile, marble and stone layers; carpenters, drywall finishers/tapers, electricians, glaziers, heat and frost insulators, iron workers, laborers, operating engineers, painters and wall coverers, plasterers and cement masons; plumbers and pipefitters, roofers and waterproofers, sheet metal workers, stationary operating engineers and teamsters.
Those interested in the scholarship or the Western Apprenticeship Coordinators Association can call 702-651-0344 or visit www.snvwaca.com.