People learn by doing. This is the idea at the heart of apprenticeship, where lessons in the classroom are reinforced by on-the-job training, resulting in education that transcends the textbook and extends to physical and even cultural learning. Students get paid, and employers get custom-trained talent. For Louisiana, the opportunity of apprenticeship is particularly exciting: the state is in the midst of an industrial boom that is going to produce tens of thousands of well-paying jobs, and if they connect their young people to them, they will both fuel the economy and build the middle class. The following brief lays out the case for expanding apprenticeships in New Orleans and throughout Louisiana, which will benefit both its citizens and its employers, and show the nation a model for workforce training and community wealth creation. [Foreword by Michael Hecht. This brief was created with the Louisiana Workforce Commission and the Greater New Orleans, Inc.]