This article describes a partnership between a German firm trying to solve its problem of finding qualified workers for its high tech manufacturing plant. Their answer was a partnership with the local high schools and a community college that offered students training beginning in their junior year of high school, the German apprenticeship model. For kids with an interest in this kind of technical training, apprenticeships are a way for them to get the training they need to secure a well paying job without the necessity of incurring a lot of debt obtaining a college degree. In fact the article points out most people earn increasing pay as they progress through an apprenticeship program. CHARLOTTE — As a high school junior, Hope Johnson thought she had things figured out. She’d been hit with wanderlust during an academic trip to Brazil, set her sights on London’s Richmond University and hoped to...