Jesup and Dunkerton associates with the shared CAPS program had an opportunity to showcase their projects and learning experiences at an open house Wednesday afternoon at CoWork591.
CAPS (Center for Advanced Professional Studies) is a work-based learning program offering high school students the opportunity to learn and build professional skills, explore various careers, and work on projects for businesses and companies in Jesup and the surrounding area. It is housed at the CoWork591 business center at 591 Young Street. Students (also referred to as Associates) use skills from a variety of curricular areas while working and studying within the CAPS program.
“CAPS is a wonderful opportunity that we are excited to bring to Jesup High School,” says Allyson Kitch, Jesup CAPS Instructor. “Students will have the opportunity to be a CAPS associate during their junior or senior years, replacing three elective credits and giving them hands-on opportunities to complete projects for local businesses. Jesup CAPS is an affiliate of CF CAPS so our associates will also be able to complete projects and network with students and community members out of district.”
Available to talk about their projects and learning experiences on Wednesday were:
Dunkerton
Jaelyn Behrens — Junior — CAPS closet that she created to help students dress professionally for CAPS. Jaelyn worked with the Industrial Tech Instructor to have the class build a clothes rack. She then solicited clothing and accessory donations.
“We learn to dress for success,” she said.
Rylee Boyer — Senior — Food truck project for the shared professional development day for area schools. She interviewed teachers for menu ideas and favorite vendors. Vendors selected were Alley Cats, Legacy’s, Boyd’s Bar & Grill, and Rockin 5K.
Bryce Smith — Junior — Northeast Iowa food bank donation and volunteer hours. Bryce started out collecting food for families to have a Thanksgiving meal. The extra food collect went to the Food Bank where he also put in volunteer hours.
Jesup
Caelor Wymore — Senior — Elementary Peer Mentoring Program where they completed organized activities with Jesup elementary.
Sayler Youngblut — Senior — House of Hope festival of lights display fundraiser and apartment redecorating. She said she found her passion is in helping people. Visit www.houseofhopeccd.org for more information.
Kylie Winter — Senior — Revive Bodyworks social media platform development. Kylie worked with a local web programmer who also uses CoWork591. She hopes to continue to work with Revive Bodyworks and their social media.
“Sometimes it’s who you know, not what you know,” was a big takeaway for Kylie, adding “Good design matters.”
Olivia Baldwin — Senior — Thanksgiving meal basket project to donate to local families.
Laney Pilcher — Senior — Career exploration — focused on exploring her college and career options through a variety of job shadows and college visits.
Lillee Devlin — Senior — CoWork 591 variety show event. Photos from the show are on the CoWork591 Facebook page.
Savvy Behn — Senior — Jesup Booster Club website development. Savvy learned about website coding and how to link pages. Visit jesupboosterclub.org to see the fruits of her labor.
Many of the Associates said the biggest things they learned were how to communicate and organize people and projects.
This article originally appeared in the Independence Bulletin Journal here.
