GO CAPS announces program offerings for 2015-2016
The Greater Ozarks Centers for Advanced Professional Studies began enrolling students for its first two course strands, Engineering and Manufacturing and Medicine and Health Care.
The program will immerse high school juniors and seniors in an environment that combines hands-on career experiences and classroom learning by partnering students and employers on real-life projects. At its core, GO CAPS is designed to expose students to the wide variety of career and post-secondary educational pathways that exist within the Springfield region.
Beginning this fall, students from Springfield Public Schools and 9 other school districts will meet for 2.5 hour blocks at business locations in Springfield. In addition students in Monett, through an affiliate program of GO CAPS, will meet at separate locations. All participating students will receive both high school and college credit while working with the partner businesses on real projects and interacting with mentors and instructors from other business partners around the region.
The Chamber announced that it would be managing the GO CAPS program in a release earlier this year. The effort represents an unprecedented collaboration between eleven area public school districts and job creators from leading sectors of the region’s economy.
Despite strong technical and professional training programs in our region, increasingly, a wide variety of Chamber members report they face a significant disconnect between the skills and talent available and their rapidly changing workforce needs. GO CAPS is uniquely positioned to better prepare students earlier and connect them with existing opportunities within our region.Students interested in taking part in either of the two course strands should contact their school counselor for more information.
About the Strands:
Engineering and Manufacturing
This strand is designed for students who are interested in engineering and manufacturing fundamentals, entrepreneurship and innovation. To date, business partners include 3M, Central States Industrial Equipment, City Utilities, Conco Companies, CNH Industrial Reman, Custom Metalcraft, Jack Henry and Associates, John Deere Reman, Multi-Craft Contractors, Olsson Associates, SMC Packaging Group, and Springfield Remanufacturing Corp. Students will attend at a classroom in Springfield Remanufacturing Corp. and experience hands-on, active learning with full immersion in real-world projects through curriculum developed by the business partners and GO CAPS instructors.
Medicine and Health Care
This strand fully immerses students in the world of medicine and health care, providing unprecedented access to real-world experiences in this dynamic industry. Business partners include Citizens Memorial Hospital, CoxHealth, Housing Plus, LLC, Mercy, and other health and wellness organizations across the region. At the classroom facility in CoxHealth, students will expand upon principles of human physiology through in-depth case studies of body systems. They will develop fluency in basic medical language, formulate treatment plans for patients, and practice physical assessment skills. Students will work alongside a variety of business partners in the region to take what they learn and apply it to real-world problems facing medicine, health and wellness companies.
Other supporting businesses have included BKD, LLP, Commerce Bank, Community Foundation of the Ozarks, Drury University, Empire Bank, Evangel University, Great Southern Bank, JMARK Business Solutions, Metropolitan National Bank, Missouri Career Center, Missouri State University, Ozarks Technical Community College, Springfield First Community Bank, The eFactory, and UMB Bank.
