Standing over the Backwash Holding Tanks, a LISD apprentice clenches onto the fire hose to clean off built-up debris. She is currently an apprentice at the Water Treatment Plant, supervised under Zeke Gil. “Our intern has been good,” Gil said. “She’s come in and picked up our labs and our day to day operations pretty well. So I think [the apprenticeship] is a good thing.” Photo Courtesy of Eddie Aguilar

The midday school bell rings at 12:00, but her day just got started. Traversing her way down Lime Creek’s windy road she finally makes it to her apprenticeship at the city’s water treatment plant. After unpacking her bag, she heads to the operating room, scans the six monitors and prepares to spend her night ensuring the city receives its water.

Cedar Park is finishing up its first year with high school apprentices. The city partnered up with LISD to offer apprenticeships because they were having a difficult time filling positions at Wastewater Collections, Water Distribution and the Water Treatment Plant. 

“I was glad to see that there were kids interested in this type of stuff,” Water Treatment Plant Supervisor Zeke Gil said. “You don’t normally get that in our field. Public works is a lot of older guys already doing this type of work. It was good to see that there’s some youths that want to do it.”

Sarah Spradling, the LISD Work-Based Learning Coordinator in the Career and Technical Education Department met with city officials in 2023 to discuss apprenticeships for high school students. At the end of the 2024-2025 school year, juniors going into an Agriculture Practicum or College & Career Prep class were given a flyer, an offer to tour Public Works, and an interview for an apprenticeship.

“It was a rough start,” Spradling said. “It felt like a bust from the student perspective, [but] I learned a lot and it really helped us to have a better perspective of who would be a good fit for the program. That’s when we decided to start at the beginning of the school year when students aren’t distracted by summer.”

Carrie Coble, the city’s Senior HR Business Partner said she is hoping to get the word out about the program by April of this year. An interest form will be distributed by LISD teachers and in August a tour will be given and students interested will be interviewed.

“If you really want to see what certain positions within Public Works and Utilities are all about, you really check it out,” Coble said. “We just want to continue to evolve and make it easy for the students to understand the program. I’m super excited that we have been able to start a program, but I’m really open and looking for feedback on how we can make it better. We have no place but up to go from what we are doing this year.”

Spradling said that the program is fitted for students looking for hands-on work and are fulfilled by giving back to their community. She also said that the apprenticeship could potentially turn into a career after high school.

“Not many programs pay you while you’re learning,” Spradling said. “[Students are] going to be able to put money in their pocket rather than waiting until they graduate. Students learn to work with different types of people and skills that are important to be successful in work, like showing up on time, communicating, showing initiative and curiosity. I think all of those are things that you’re just going to naturally learn [at the apprenticeship] that are underrated.”

Gil said he pushes for students to go to college, but for those who don’t, he advises them to work for the city.

“This [apprenticeship] gives you a different outlet, as far as earning money [goes],” Gil said. “If you stick around and you end up being full time, you’re already starting to put into your retirement system and I think there’s more positives than negatives, even for an 18-year-old.”

At the end of this school year, the city will be offering full-time positions to those currently in the apprenticeship program. In addition, students who want to continue working for the city and are currently apprentices at a 24/7 department could be eligible for education reimbursement.

“We want to invest in our employees,” Coble said. “This all ties right back into furthering their abilities. If they choose to leave the city, at least we’ve played a part in enabling them to complete some of that ongoing education. Sometimes it’s not the first step for people right out of high school, so we do hope to see an increase [in hiring] people out of high school.”

The city encourages students to join the program and will pay for students to go take classes and tests to be licensed because every city needs people working in water, electric, sewer and running the plants.

“If we get to that point where all these tenured guys are leaving and nobody’s coming in who’s gonna operate this stuff,” Gil said. “You can’t rely on AI for a lot of things. It can tell you if your plants running and pumps are on, but it doesn’t tell you if there’s a leak. You still need boots on the ground.”

At Public Works, AI is currently being used for data gathering to change signal lights based on predictability, gauge on average how much water residents are using and for meter readers. Coble noted that AI will not take over Public Work positions.

“There’s so much of what we do that are a lot of labor intensive positions,” Coble said. “[From] using the data and being able to understand the data, people are going to have to be able to respond. You still have to scrub it. We’re using AI where we can be more efficient and more effective in our jobs, but it’s not to replace people doing jobs.”

The current apprentices are able to perform duties like a full time operator. At Distribution, the apprentice can do repairs, maintenance and operate equipment. At the Treatment Plant, the apprentice can run labs, operate the Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition system, known as SCADA,and flush and backwash units. At Collections, the apprentice can collect system inspections, do preventative maintenance and do piping repairs. Next school year, the program is planning to expand to include Fleet Services, Water Reclamation, and Pump and Motor.

“Utility Operators are vital to all communities, and with more leaving the industry every year it is crucial that our industry is replenished,” Water Distribution Supervisor Steven Matthews said. “My hope is that this program continues to succeed and that more utilities start their own programs so that we can keep the industry staffed.”

Matthews said that his student apprentice has brought up team morale. He said his team embraced the student as their own and has enjoyed teaching the student about the profession.

“[Our student] has hit every goal that we set and more,” Matthews said. “We have had great success with our apprentice and it’s been a very enjoyable experience. Having a student willing to participate and the level of effort given was impressive.”

Wastewater Collections Supervisor Matthew Cochran also said that his student also has been very involved and shows dedication to their job which makes everything much more worthwhile.

“We have definitely benefited from having him in the department,” Cochran said. That is a testament to him and his will to exceed our expectations. If you want to learn an important trade that will teach you valuable skills related to Public Utilities, a job with Cedar Park Public Works could be just what you are looking for.”

Spradling doesn’t meet with students, so she relies on teachers spreading the word about upcoming opportunities. This upcoming year, Spradling is going to look at students’ course selections and get in touch with them. Even without seeing the current apprentice students, she said she believes the program is going great.

“[The city] raves about [the interns] and about their energy,” Spradling said. “I feel like each department is kind of a family and they are very supportive of each other and want to see each other grow and learn and do what’s best for them. I think that they just have a great culture over there, which makes me feel good about sending students there. It seems like they really want to teach them and really want to see them succeed.”