Cache County launched a new program Thursday meant to give high school juniors and seniors real-world experience in careers they are interested in. It’s called the Cache Center for Advanced Professional Studies, or CAPS.
Located on the Bridgerland Technical College western campus, the program is open to juniors and seniors from high schools throughout Cache and Box Elder counties.
Participants choose one of two program options — business, marketing and finance, or teaching as a profession.
The program works as a sort of internship. Students who choose business, marketing and finance have the option to work with local businesses on real marketing, entrepreneurship and finance projects, or even to develop and launch their own business idea.
Students who choose the teaching as a profession option gain internship experience in either a para-professional or student-teacher role, working on projects like developing and modifying curriculum and creating lesson plans.
According to CAPS Career and Technical Education Specialist Miachel Torrey, the district plans to institute additional focus options over the next few years, including engineering, creative computing, natural resources and medical studies.
“We did a needs assessment to gauge what our valley would benefit from right out of the gate,” Torrey said. “Business makes sense because everything is a business.”
Education also made sense, as it is a top industry in northern Utah.
The program is meant to help students build their skills, earn high school and college credit, and make connections that could benefit them in their college and career goals.
Cache CAPS is part of the CAPS Network, a national nonprofit organization focused on profession-based learning.
Torrey said some districts in Utah have been participating in the program for a decade. About two years ago, Cache County School District decided to adopt the program.
“We feel like our value in our community is such that we have great relationships between the school district and our community partners,” Torrey said. “We are always looking for ways to build and strengthen that.”
He said the district’s industry partners want to be involved more with the schools, and the program gives them a platform for that involvement, which benefits both the students and the partners.
The district launched the program Thursday evening, giving students tours of the center and establishing expectations for the program. Students in the business program heard project pitches from local businesses. Some CAPS students, after only one class the day before, took on active roles on the launch night, giving presentations on various aspects of the program and the center.
Dani Darnstaedt, a senior at Box Elder High School, toured the building with her mother, Kassy Coombs.
Darnstaedt chose the teaching as a profession option, hoping to get a head start on a career goal she is passionate about. Darnstaedt said she wants to be a special education teacher for kindergarten students.
“It was super cool to find out I got in,” Darnstaedt said. “It was always kind of a passion to do special needs teaching, so when I heard about (CAPS), it was super cool finding out this was an opportunity for me.”
Coombs said she is grateful to her daughter’s school counselor for recommending the program, and she thinks it will be an amazing opportunity.
“I think this is a great setting for her, not to just be in a traditional classroom, sitting and listening, but hands-on and being able to use the different stations,” Coombs said. “I think it will really give her a taste of what it’s like out in the world as a working adult as she pursues her passions in life.”
According to Torrey, about 115 students are registered to participate in the program this school year, split between three semesters and the two career options.
To learn more about Cache CAPS, visit www.ccsdut.org/departments/cte/caps-program.
The original article published by the Herald Journal can be found here.
