Washington state treasurer visits Marysville high school trades program
Published 1:35 pm Friday, October 23, 2026
MARYSVILLE — Washington State Treasurer Mike Pellicciotti visited Friday the Regional Apprenticeship Pathways program at Marysville Pilchuck High School, the county’s only state-recognized hands-on technical education course for high school students.
The visit started with a tour of the program space, led by senior Tyson Williams and juniors Paul Newman and Oliver Schiessl. The treasurer saw recently formed concrete foundations, woodworking projects in progress and completed tiny homes waiting to be donated and put to use.
“It feels good that they’re going to a good cause,” Williams said during the tour.
Jesse Johnson, the treasurer’s director of outreach, also attended the tour. He represented District 30 in the House of Representatives from 2020 to 2023. During that time, Johnson played a major role in securing the funding for a pre-apprenticeship program in Federal Way, Pellicciotti said during the visit.
“I got to give credit to this program; because of Marysville’s program, Federal Way High School now has over 50 graduates a year,” Johnson said during a speech to the students. “I came here in 2019, in the very early beginnings of the program, and visited it and just like, ‘This is amazing.’”
Many of the other pre-apprenticeship programs in the state are modeled after the Marysville Regional Apprenticeship Pathways, which is now in its eighth year, Director Anne Carnell said during the tour.
This year, Marysville’s technical education program has gathered 103 juniors and seniors from nine school districts across Snohomish County, the program spokesperson Amanda Knapp said during the tour.
The program is partnered with almost a dozen trade unions and apprenticeship organizations, its website says.
First-year students spend more time learning and training, Williams told Pellicciotti during the tour. Year two students spend more time doing, he said.
“They start with everything a lot faster,” Williams said. “Some of the RAP one students haven’t learned how to use a tool … So they start with the really easy stuff and work their way up.”
Pellicciotti has traveled to many of the state’s programs this year to “get a pulse on the next generation of graduates” who may enter a trade career, Carnell told the students.
The treasurer also talked to the students about proper money management.
“One of the things that’s great about the opportunities you have here is you can kind of go straight into job opportunities and get paid right away,” Pellicciotti said. “The importance of making sure, once you get that first paycheck that shows up, that you actually know how to manage it. You don’t have to spend it all right away.”
During the tour, first-year students worked on a training station, a 4-by-4-foot building, with walls, a window, a door and eventually plumbing and electrical. They will progress through the project throughout the whole year, Knapp said.
Now in his second year, Williams is excited to focus on what he wants to do after high school, he said after the tour.
“I know what I’m interested in. I know what I want to do,” he said. “So I’ve already started doing electrical and getting back into it.”
Williams hopes to go into an electrical union apprenticeship, he said. He’s also looking for opportunities to take more of a leadership role, Williams said.
“We have a great community here, so kind of helping bring it all together,” he said. “Two years ago I wouldn’t have imagined I’d be talking to the people that I have. So it’s great.”
Students spend half their school day at the Regional Apprenticeship Pathways facility, she said, Monday through Friday. They earn both high school and college credit and certifications that prepare them for apprenticeships after high school, Knapp said.
The program replaces standard math, physical education, lab science and English classes, she said.
“It’s not all out in the shop,” Knapp said. As part of the program, students must write papers and complete full research projects, she said.
Taylor Scott Richmond: 425-339-3046; taylor.richmond@heraldnet.com; Bluesky: @btayokay.bsky.social
