A high-need, industry-specific and occupation-specific progression to WBL, career discovery, WBL preparation, pre-apprenticeship, apprenticeship, and employment in the Graphic Arts sector — a high-demand, accessible industry for students with disabilities.
Pathway Overview
The Graphic Arts Pathway is StudentUnion's occupation-specific track, connecting early school-based engagements directly to registered apprenticeship and employment in Graphic Arts.
This pathway aligns to existing RAP-registered apprenticeship frameworks and provides a clear, structured route from first exposure through skill mastery and living-wage employment. Graphic Arts was selected as the anchor sector for its accessibility to students with a wide range of disabilities, its strong labor demand across NYC, and its natural connections to STEAM-based learning already embedded in the K–12 Pathways curriculum.
Graphic Arts offers high labor demand across NYC, clear occupational competency frameworks aligned to RAP requirements, strong employer participation from inclusive design firms, screen-printing operations, and media producers, and direct alignment to the STEAM-based skills developed throughout K–12 Pathways — making it the ideal sector-specific entry point for students with disabilities into registered apprenticeship.
Staged Progression
The Graphic Arts Pathway follows a structured, staged adoption model that moves students through increasingly rigorous real-world engagement — always with the right supports in place.
Students encounter Graphic Arts through embedded STEAM activities, career exposure events, and project-based learning within the K–12 Pathways curriculum. Initial interest and aptitude is identified and nurtured.
Students deepen engagement through structured career discovery experiences, building technical and employability competencies specific to Graphic Arts occupations. Related Instruction delivers technical instruction directly tied to the occupation.
Students enter structured on-the-job training (OJT) with employer partners, supported by StudentUnion mentors and employer supervisors trained through Ready to RAP. Performance is tracked through employer-aligned feedback systems based on skill and competency mastery.
Students who complete the pre-apprenticeship progression enter RAP-aligned registered apprenticeships, earning wages that progress with skill completion and advancing toward full employment in Graphic Arts occupations.
Pathway Components
Every Graphic Arts Pathway placement is built on four integrated components that ensure quality, compliance, and student success.
Job- and industry-specific skill development at employer sites, structured around competency milestones aligned to Graphic Arts occupational standards and RAP requirements. Students build real technical skills in live production environments.
Technical instruction directly tied to the occupation, delivered in coordination with school-based and CBO partners. RI bridges classroom learning with on-site application, ensuring students build the theoretical knowledge to support their hands-on work.
Employer supervisor training through Ready to RAP, StudentUnion mentorship at every stage, and active coordination with the student's school, agency, and CBO support team — ensuring each student has the accommodations and guidance they need to succeed.
Performance, skill and competency mastery, and job readiness are tracked through structured evaluation cycles. Feedback flows between employer supervisors, StudentUnion mentors, and school support teams to ensure continuous improvement.
Earn-and-Learn Model
Students earn wages that advance as they complete structured training — creating a direct, motivating link between skill mastery and economic opportunity.
Program Alignment
The Graphic Arts Pathway is designed to plug directly into NYC's broader apprenticeship ecosystem and workforce development infrastructure.
Pathway design, OJT competencies, RI requirements, and wage schedules are structured to meet New York State Registered Apprenticeship Program requirements.
Built on the proven inclusive manufacturing apprenticeship model from Spectrum Designs — a current partner — which has successfully employed neurodivergent workers in screen-printing and design.
Aligned to the NYC Apprenticeship Landscape Report's goals of scaling earn-and-learn models and expanding apprenticeship access for underrepresented youth in in-demand sectors.
Key Partners in the Graphic Arts Pathway