GO CAPS prepares for Year Eight
The 2022-2023 school year will be the eighth for the GO CAPS program, and there are still plenty of chances for high school students around the region to participate in this exciting opportunity.
GO CAPS – the Greater Ozarks Centers for Advanced Professional Studies – is serving 99 Springfield students this school year as well as six school districts from around southwest Missouri. They focus on one of three broad yet distinct fields of study: Medicine & Health Care, Engineering & Manufacturing, and Business & Entrepreneurship.
Those strands of study are by design; they local employers’ most urgent areas of need. Each strand is led by an advisory group teams made up of both educators and business partners who help shape its curriculum and experiences.
“With our critical worker shortage, it is imperative that we prepare students to be successful as they launch into the workplace,” said Karen Kunkel, the Chamber’s GO CAPS coordinator. “GO CAPS allows students to hone their skills in a unique way and prepares them to hit the ground running.”
The program has already made significant impacts on the region, having reached more than 900 students through a combination of direct on-site experience and information shared with them by teachers who have participated in the GO CAPS Teacher Externship programs during the summer months. And while the future of the region’s workforce needs remains uncertain, both businesses and students can benefit from participating in the GO CAPS program.
Applications for students to participate in 2022-2023 are now being accepted. If you know of a student who will be a junior or senior in 2022-2023 and would be a good fit for the GO CAPS program, send them to the GO CAPS website to learn more about the program and to complete the application today.
If you’d like to learn more detail about the program and how it can expand opportunities for students, you’re invited to join one of the open house sessions on March 8. Information about the Medicine & Health Care, Engineering & Manufacturing, and Business & Entrepreneurship strands will be available on March 8 at 6 p.m. at the efactory, located inside the Robert W. Plaster Free Enterprise Center at 405 N. Jefferson Ave.
