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Aiken works

AIKEN WORKS is an Aiken County collaborative to redefine individual success and provide opportunities to ensure highly-competent future employees.
 
How does Aiken Work? AIKEN WORKS teams up with local businesses to prepare students for the workforce through authentic hands-on paid experiences. The initiative will allow Aiken County’s students to develop employable skill sets, while building a highly capable future workforce for our community. With 50% of Aiken County’s workers eligible to retire in the next five years, the need to train Aiken’s youth in highly-qualified and skilled trades and professions is essential to our community’s success.

Join the movement that will propel Aiken County forward as a hub of cyber technology, industrial manufacturing, health and energy! For more information, contact Oscar Rushton, AIKEN WORKS Lead, at ORushton@acpsd.net or by telephone at (803) 429-3371.

Work-Based Learning

Work-based learning is sustained interactions with industry or community professionals in a real worksite environment.

Work-Based Learning (WBL) provides students with meaningful, real-world experiences that connect classroom instruction to practical workplace applications. These experiences often take place in simulated or actual work environments—such as educational institutions or community businesses—where students engage in tasks aligned with their academic curriculum and career goals.

According to the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), WBL is defined as a structured learning experience at a worksite over a set period of time that supports students in exploring or progressing toward a career path. WBL opportunities are coordinated through schools and designed to be coherent, purposeful, and related to each student’s interests and career aspirations. These experiences are made possible through partnerships with local businesses, industries, and community organizations.

WBL allows students to apply what they’ve learned in the classroom to authentic business or service-based settings, helping them develop both academic and employability skills.

Below are the ten WBL instructional methods currently recognized and implemented in South Carolina.

Apprenticeship
Cooperative Education
Internship
On-Site Job Shadowing
Virtual Job Shadowing
Mentoring
School-Based Enterprise
Service Learning
Structured Field Study
CTE Internship Credit Bearing Course

Aiken Works Career and College Night 2022

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AIKEN WORKS Career and College night 2022 fair images

To be career ready, a student must meet one of the following:

Earn CTE completer status while also earning a national or state industry credential as determined by the business community; or

Earn a Level 3 or higher on the state-approved career readiness assessment; or

Earn a scale score of 31 or higher on the ASVAB; or

Successfully complete a state-approved work-based learning program

Successfully completes the South Carolina High School Employability Credential (applies to students with a documented disability) 

Current WBL Opportunities

Aiken Works offers many different Work Based Learning (WBL) opportunities for our high school students, including job shadowing, internships, and youth apprenticeships.  

Contact Info

Oscar Rushton

Work-Based Learning Coordinator, Aiken County Public Schools | Aiken Works Lead

Greetings! My name is Oscar Rushton, and I’m a proud graduate of Aiken County Public Schools, by way of Wagener-Salley High School.

My professional journey began in 1997 in the welding industry, where I worked for 15 years before transitioning into education. In 2012, I became the Welding Instructor at South Aiken High School, a position I held for 10 years. Helping shape the next generation of skilled professionals was one of the most rewarding experiences of my life.

In 2022, I accepted the role of CTE (Career and Technical Education) Program Specialist, where I had the opportunity to support CTE teachers and programs while building stronger partnerships between schools, the community, and industry leaders.

As of 2025, I am honored to serve as the Work-Based Learning Coordinator for Aiken County Public Schools and the Aiken Works Lead. I am deeply committed to building a stronger future for our students—believing that local students lead to local jobs, and local jobs lead to local leaders. This model is a win for everyone: students, families, communities, and industries.

Aiken Works is focused on forming meaningful and sustainable partnerships with all industry and community platforms across Aiken County. By working together, we can create real opportunities for students and strengthen our local workforce.

To paraphrase Mahatma Gandhi,
“Be the change you wish to see in the world.”

Let’s continue building that change—together.

Larry Millstead, Aiken Works Lead

Larry Millstead

Larry Millstead joined Aiken County Public Schools in November 2018. He enjoys developing new opportunities for students and collaborating with community partners to provide job shadow, internship, and youth apprenticeship opportunities for Aiken County Public School students.  

Mr. Millstead can be reached at lmillstead@acpsd.net or (803) 646-8985.