Raising the BAR in Baltimore – a six-week apprenticeship readiness program – celebrated the graduation of 18 students on March 14. The cohort is the program‘s largest and most gender diverse to date, with women making up 40% of its graduates.
The program offers participants an introduction to the unionized building trades, jobsite tours, interview prep and mock interviews, math refreshers and practice tests, hands-on activities and projects, and introductions to decision-makers with local contractors.
Raising the BAR graduate Kenyona Whitaker described her experience in the program as “life-changing.” She was recently accepted into the IBEW Local 24 apprenticeship.
“It was enlightening to see all of the building trades apprenticeship programs,” said Whitaker. “I found myself wanting to be a part of it. Through this experience, I gained so much clarity and confidence about how I want to move forward in the future.”
After a safety training, Raising the BAR participants harnessed up and attempted to climb 35-foot columns at Ironworkers Local 5 on March 5, 2025.
Raising the BAR is built around the Multi-Craft Core Curriculum (MC3) and is a collaboration of the Construction Trades Workforce Initiative (CTWI) and the Baltimore-DC Metro Building Trades Council.
Students had the opportunity to meet and interview with key contractors, including Clark Construction, Stacy Witbeck, and Kiewit, who are spearheading major infrastructure projects in Baltimore, including Amtrak’s Frederick Douglass Tunnel and the reconstruction of the Key Bridge. The program also featured a week-long job shadowing experience, thanks to partnerships with Constellation and Allied Power.
“Today marks the beginning of a new chapter in your lives,” Baltimore Central Labor Council President Courtney Jenkins told students at the graduation ceremony. “One that is not only about achieving personal success, but about becoming a part of something much greater — a future in the unionized building trades that offers both economic security and the chance to help build back Baltimore.”
While an elected leader with LiUNA Local 710 and as the former head of the Baltimore Central Labor Council, Jermaine Jones was involved with early efforts to establish a pre-apprenticeship program in the city.
“Our goal was ‘How can we get men and women who traditionally didn’t know about the trades into this?” said Jones at the graduation ceremony. “So, that’s why we started the Raising the BAR program — to kind of reach in. And because we realized in order for Baltimore and the building trades to be successful, we’ve got to encompass everyone.”
Now a Baltimore City Councilmember and chair of the council’s Labor and Workforce Committee, Jones says that is still a key goal: “We’ve got to find a way to open up our doors and provide these opportunities to every community and every individual throughout Baltimore City looking for those opportunities.”
There is no better way to get into the middle class than through a union apprenticeship,”
ZEKE COHEN
President
Baltimore CITY COUNCIL
Raising the BAR graduate Jeffrey Martinez says that, in addition to useful job-hunting skills and an overall introduction to the building trades, the apprenticeship readiness program gave him a new-found focus and direction.
“I joined the Raising the BAR program to start a new future, to focus on my future adulthood, for my family and myself,” said Martinez, who is 19 years old.
Describing himself as shy, he says he found an easy camaraderie among his cohort.
“You work together as a team, as classmates,” he said. “Because we’re all doing this for the same goal. We all want to be successful.”
Baltimore City Council President Zeke Cohen also addressed the crowd, underscoring the importance of local hiring and creating career opportunities for city residents in the building trades.
“There is no better way to get into the middle class than through a union apprenticeship,” said Cohen. “We want to make sure there are structured pathways and pipelines for folks to get not just jobs, but careers. And that’s exactly what Raising the BAR — this kind of partnership — is all about.”
CTWI will be launching the next MC3 Pre-Apprenticeship Cohort in Prince George’s County on April 14, 2025. To learn more contact, Beli@ctwi-btca.org