{"id":159564,"date":"2024-11-19T15:45:45","date_gmt":"2024-11-19T20:45:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.nmc.edu\/?p=159564"},"modified":"2025-04-16T10:54:35","modified_gmt":"2025-04-16T14:54:35","slug":"2024-apprentice-of-the-year-named","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.nmc.edu\/?p=159564","title":{"rendered":"2024 Apprentice of the Year named"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.nmc.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/4a206f7f0a0a00b836839d84331a216d2024-Derek-Councilor-apprentice-award-high-resolution.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"JPEG image (link opens new window)\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Derek Councilor 2024 Apprentice of the Year\" class=\"\" height=\"263\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.nmc.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/4a1f06ab0a0a00b836839d84749402cd2024-Derek-Councilor-apprentice-award-low-resolution.jpg\" style=\"float: right; margin-left: 2%;\" width=\"350;\" \/><span class=\"AlignCaptionRight\">Derek Councilor<br \/>(high resolution image)<\/span><\/a>TRAVERSE CITY &#8212; NMC has named Derek Councilor, an apprentice at Sara Lee Frozen Bakery as its 2024 Apprentice of the Year for his exceptional work ethic.<\/p>\n<p>Councilor, 38, of Traverse City, has been completing his apprenticeship since 2022. He works full-time in the maintenance department on second shift at Sara Lee Frozen Bakery while taking courses toward four different certificates. The first three are from NMC.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Manufacturing Apprenticeship<\/li>\n<li>Engineering Technology &#8211; Programmable Logic Controllers (PLC)<\/li>\n<li>Construction Technology &#8211; HVAC\/R Technology<\/li>\n<li>Apprenticeship Certificate from the U.S. Department of Labor Office of Apprenticeship<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Councilor&#8217;s colleagues praised his abilities at a ceremony held Wednesday at NMC&#8217;s Parsons-Stulen Building in conjunction with National Apprenticeship Week. He was commended for his high-quality on-time work, friendliness, knowledgeability and leadership among his peers, and attendance and early arrival.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;He is a multi-team player,&#8221; said Dan Wallington, maintenance department manager, adding that Councilor works with the operations team as well as maintenance and helps train more junior employees. &#8220;Derek helps continue the confidence we have in the apprenticeships.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Sara Lee currently has three active apprentices and two who have graduated from NMC&#8217;s program. Senior Human Resources generalist Caitlin Zielinski said apprentices accelerate through the company&#8217;s skill grid at a doubled pace.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s twice the speed of anyone doing on the job training,&#8221; Zielinski said. &#8220;It is so beneficial and I hope it continues to grow.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Councilor said he likes the opportunity to advance quickly, too, which he&#8217;s seen modeled with previous apprentices.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I like the classes. It&#8217;s all stuff I&#8217;m interested in,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Our last apprentice is now our lead electrician.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Find out more at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nmc.edu\/programs\/academic-offices\/technical-division\/apprenticeships.html\">nmc.edu\/apprenticeships<\/a>&#160;<\/p>\n<h3>Release date: NOVEMBER 19, 2024<\/h3>\n<h2>For more information:<\/h2>\n<p>Cari Noga<br \/>NMC Communications Director<br \/><a href=\"mailto:cnoga@nmc.edu\">cnoga@nmc.edu<\/a><br \/>(231) 392-1800 (Call or text)<\/p>\n<p>&#160;<\/p>\n<h3>NON-DISCRIMINATION POLICY NOTICE<\/h3>\n<address style=\"text-align: left;\">Northwestern Michigan College does not discriminate in admission, campus activities, education, employment, housing, public accommodation or public service on the basis of age, color, creed, disability, gender identity\/expression, handicap, height, marital or familial status, national origin, political affiliation, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, service in the military, veteran&#8217;s status, weight, or any other legally protected status under federal, state, or local law. No act of retaliation shall occur to any person making a charge, filing a complaint, testifying or participating in any discrimination investigation or proceeding. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nmc.edu\/about\/policies\/non-discrimination\/index.html\">nmc.edu\/non-discrimination<\/a><\/address>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Derek Councilor(high resolution image)TRAVERSE CITY &#8212; NMC has named Derek Councilor, an apprentice at Sara Lee Frozen Bakery as its 2024 Apprentice of the Year for his exceptional work ethic. Councilor, 38, of Traverse City, has been completing his apprenticeship since 2022. He works full-time in the maintenance department on second shift at Sara Lee [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[68,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-159564","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-intercom","category-student-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>2024 Apprentice of the Year named - NMC Communiqu\u00e9<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.nmc.edu\/?p=159564\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"2024 Apprentice of the Year named - NMC Communiqu\u00e9\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Derek Councilor(high resolution image)TRAVERSE CITY &#8212; NMC has named Derek Councilor, an apprentice at Sara Lee Frozen Bakery as its 2024 Apprentice of the Year for his exceptional work ethic. 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