Education secretary touts student apprenticeship programs

By Clayton Sidenbender May 15, 2025

ELKHART — A robust student apprenticeship program at Concord and Baugo community schools is winning praise from the state’s top education official.

Katie Jenner, Indiana’s secretary of education, toured Concord High School and Concord West Side Elementary School on Tuesday to meet with students, teachers and administrators.

Jenner and other guests listened to high school students from apprenticeship programs offered through Concord Community Schools and Baugo Community Schools. Students spoke about businesses and other organizers where they apprenticed and opportunities they have experienced to help them grow.

“It’s really wonderful being in Concord today,” Jenner said. “We had the opportunity to visit the high school, where we saw some of the work with apprenticeships and connecting their high school students with business and industry, and really trying to support students in understanding their purpose.”

Dan Funston, superintendent of Concord Community Schools, said he thinks Concord and Baugo together produce the most youth apprentices in the state. Concord has 22 apprentices, while Baugo has 20 apprentices who work on and off campus, according to Funston and Byron Sanders, superintendent of Baugo Community Schools.

Jenner also visited West Side Elementary School to hear from teachers about how they are teaching English language learners how to read.

“It’s nice to know that our secretary of education appreciates the work that’s happening throughout the state of Indiana and I think for our teachers, for our staff, it’s nice to have her presence here acknowledging the hard work that goes into educating every student,” Funston said.

Jenner also spoke to the improvement in IREAD scores throughout the state. The state is scheduled to release the most recent IREAD results in August, she said after meeting with literacy coaches and teachers at West Side.

“We are doing everything we can to make sure all children can read,” Jenner said. “And I think it’s important for everyone to realize, data shows us that [at the] third-grade level, we can predict even if a student will graduate or what their median income might be. So, reading by the end of third grade is essential to all the future knowledge and skills that are developed, so that’s where we’ll keep our focus to make sure all Indiana students are reading by the end of third grade.”