For Noah Kleckner, a senior at Burrell High School who completed a pre-apprenticeship program at school, safety protocols for personal protection are huge.
“You don’t want metal shavings in your eye,” he said.
Kleckner, 19, of Lower Burrell earned seven state certifications in safety, quality, manufacturing and maintenance in Burrell’s Industrial Manufacturing Technician Pre-Apprenticeship Program.
It is one of only a half-dozen such programs in Southwestern Pennsylvania, said Scott Dietz, director of workforce initiatives at Catalyst Connection in Pittsburgh. It’s a nonprofit that provides consulting and training services to small manufacturers in the region. He also works with school districts to help students start training.
The pre-apprenticeship and its certifications set Kleckner up for an internship at MetPlas Inc. in Harrison last summer before his senior…
