By Eric Harrold
South O’Brien High School’s “Centers for Advanced Professional Studies” (CAPS) associates provided a snapshot of what they’ve been doing since the beginning of the school year, and how participation in the CAPS program has led to their personal growth and enhancement of life skills.
The program was implemented just last fall at South O’Brien and the meeting provided an opportunity for the school district to gauge its value as a tool for helping students to expand their skill set.
Each participant gave remarks and spoke confidently about their experience in the program.
Edie Oliver began by sharing that the students participated in a competition sponsored by Ronald McDonald House at the start of the semester. Two weeks after the initial meeting, they brought forth ideas on how they would go about collecting pop tabs and received feedback. They competed against other Siouxland CAPS students to see who could collect the most pop tabs. Oliver said that although their group didn’t come out on top, they were successful in hauling in 1,540-some pounds of pop tabs which resulted in substantial contributions to an amazing organization.
Last Wednesday, the group received a tour of the Ronald McDonald House and were favorably impressed by all the good work being done by the organization. Afterward, they went to the Siouxland Chamber of Commerce where Oliver and Jordan were given insight into the functions of the Chamber and how it serves the community.
Jordan Wulf spoke about working with the City of Paullina for ideas on what might be done with the former Iowa State Bank building. Wulf said one of the biggest issues was finding an inspector. They are now working on finding a project manager to help move the project along and will be attending an upcoming city council meeting to get their response to what the group has done to this point.
Averie Logan said the group found an inspector after about two weeks of searching. She said the inspector informed about the building’s problems which included mold, mildew, and asbestos. The next step will be consulting with professional contacts as to the best way to remedy these issues, something that the project manager will help create a budget for and assist in finalizing a resolution.
Alex Sage said the meeting with city council will help determine what costs funding is spent on. The group will present ideas for the future of the building to the council. One idea they have is to transform it into a cafe for breakfast and lunch that would perhaps function as a classroom site for students.
Each participant indicated that they had personally benefited from their participation in CAPS.
Oliver said the program had benefited her by allowing her to go out in the world, meet new people, and learn how to network and become a better professional.
“All in all, I’ve really liked CAPS,” she said.
Wulf said it has been an “interesting” experience and has required of him at times to step up and become a leader in the situations he’s been in. He’s pushed himself out and met other people in the CAPS community.
Logan said she was at first wary of taking the class because it wasn’t a traditional classroom experience, but that the class had given the individuals the opportunity to learn how to work together as a team. She said each student had learned how to “spread their wings” throughout the entire class.
Sage said a personal challenge was overcoming his impatience with certain junctures along the way. He said it was frustrating waiting on an inspector to materialize.
After the conclusion on their remarks, board chairwoman Gina Paulsen asked the group if they felt that the CAPS program was something the district should move forward with in the future, with all responding in unison that it should.
“The skills you learn in CAPS apply to the rest of your life,” Oliver said. “I highly recommend keeping this program going.”
Sydney Palmer, programs manager for Ronald McDonald House in Sioux City, shared that the majority of participating schools were members of the Siouxland CAPS region, and that they doubled what Ronald McDonald House normally collects in pop tabs fundraisers. The CAPS students alone raised over 1500 pounds of tabs, with the average for Ronald McDonald House itself being 1300-1400 pounds in a year.
Amy Schmidt, who also teaches business and computer science classes at South O’Brien High School, is the CAPS instructor. Schmidt indicated that she has found this added responsibility to be very rewarding to her as an educator.
“I have thoroughly enjoyed being the CAPS instructor,” Schmidt said. “Allowing the associates to work with business professionals and observe their growth with professional skills is satisfying in and of itself. Observing their experiences involving servant leadership, and effective communication while finding their purpose and becoming emerging innovators has also helped me to become a better educator. I am confident that their CAPS experience will give them a headstart in their future careers.