Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
WHERE WILL THE NEXT GARMIN'S AND CERNER'S OF THE WORLD COME
FROM? GROWING ENTREPRENEURS STARTS YOUNG.
IN THE BLUE VALLEY SCHOOL DISTRICT, IT'S STARTING IN AN INNOVATIVE $12.5 MILLION
BUILDING WHERE THE NEXT GENERATION OF ENTREPRENEURS, ENGINEERS AND LIFE SCIENCE
RESEARCHERS ARE GETTING A HEAD START WHILE STILL IN HIGH SCHOOL.
IT'S CALLED THE CENTER FOR ADVANCED PROFESSIONAL STUDIES OR CAPS.
WHILE MANY HIGH SCHOOL BIOLOGY STUDENTS ARE LEARNING ABOUT DNA FROM TEXTBOOKS, THERE
ARE TEENS HERE ACTUALLY EXTRACTING IT FROM THE SALIVA GLANDS OF FRUIT FLY LARVA.
MORE THAN 500 BLUE VALLEY JUNIORS AND SENIORS ARE GETTING THIS OPPORTUNITY IN A PROGRAM
THAT'S FAST GETTING NATIONAL ATTENTION. PRODUCER RICH MILLER TAKES US
INSIDE. CAPS IS REALLY A GOOD WAY FOR KIDS WHO GO TO THE BLUE VALLEY
SCHOOL DISTRICT OR WHO LIVE IN THE BOUNDARIES, I
GUESS, TO GET A REAL WORLD EXPERIENCE FOR WHAT
IT'S LIKE TO WORK IN THEIR FIELD OF STUDY. ESSENTIALLY IT'S A PROGRAM
THAT IMMERSES STUDENTS IN A REAL WORLD WORK
EXPERIENCE, BUT IT'S NOT JUST A SIMULATION, LIKE WHAT
SOME PROGRAMS I'VE BEEN IN AT SCHOOL. WE'RE WORKING ON ACTUAL PROJECTS
WITH ACTUAL CLIENTS AND ACTUAL PEOPLE WHO NEED US TO DO THIS WORK FOR THEM, BUT WE'RE
LEARNING AND WE'RE GETTING OUR HIGH SCHOOL CREDIT AT THE SAME TIME.
INSTEAD OF JUST LEARNING AND LISTENING TO LECTURES ENVIRONMENT, YOU'RE ACTUALLY
DOING PROJECTS TO ENHANCE YOUR ABILITY TO ACTUALLY WORK WORK WITH ACTUAL BUSINESSES AND
UNDERSTAND HOW THE ACTUAL WORLD WORKS. I DECIDED TO BECOME A MENTOR
WITH CAPS BECAUSE I LOOKED AT WHAT I HAD AVAILABLE
TO ME WHEN I WAS IN HIGH SCHOOL, AND I KNEW
THAT I WANTED TO GET INVOLVED IN REALLY INTERESTING ENGINEER PROJECTS, BUT THERE JUST WASN'T
ANY COURSEWORK AVAILABLE. WHEN I SAW WHAT THEY WERE TRYING TO MAKE AVAILABLE TO STUDENTS, I
SAID, I HAVE TO BE A PART OF THIS, BECAUSE IT'S SOMETHING I WISH I COULD HAVE DONE.
THIS IS ALL DESIGNED OFF OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, SO WE'RE DESIGNING PROGRAMS THAT MATCH
WHERE THE MARKET IS GOING. THE HIGH DEMAND, HIGH SKILLED JOBS IS WHAT THIS IS DESIGNED
AFTER. WHEN THE MARKET SHIFTS AND A CAREER IS BIG, THEN THAT'S WHERE
WE'RE HEADED. IF A CAREER OPPORTUNITY IS NOT, WE DROP IT.
WE'VE CREATED A PROGRAM THAT WE DIDN'T WANT TO BE ELITISTS. WE DIDN'T WANT JUST KIDS WITH
GRADE POINT AVERAGES ABOVE 4.0 HERE. WE WANTED KIDS THAT HAD AN
INTEREST AND MOTIVATION THAT THEY COULD COUPLE WITH THEIR ACADEMICS TO BE PART OF THIS, SO
WE DON'T HAVE ANY KIND OF A SCREENING PROCESS WHEN IT COMES TO GRADES OR WHATEVER.
THERE IS AN APPLICATION PROCESS. IF KIDS ARE
INTERESTED AND THEY CAN CONVINCE US THAT THEY'RE
SERIOUS ABOUT THIS, THEN WE WANT TO GIVE THEM THE OPPORTUNITY. THERE'S A HUGE DIFFERENCE
BETWEEN CAPS AND REGULAR SCHOOL. I MEAN, THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE JUST BY WALKING IN, WE
HAVE A DIFFERENT DRESS CODE. WE HAVE TO, YOU KNOW, DRESS TO WHAT IT'S LIKE TO BE IN AN AIF
AIF -- OFFICE FOR WHATEVER INDUSTRY WE'RE IN. I CHOSE BUSINESS.
WE GET THE CHANCE TO ACTUALLY WORK WITH REAL BUSINESS PEOPLE. THEY HAVE A REALLY GOOD SYSTEM
OF FINDING, YOU KNOW, PEOPLE WHO ARE WILLING TO WORK WITH CIZ KIDS AND MENTOR US OF WHAT IT
MEANS TO BE IN THE BUSINESS WORLD. WE HAVE OVER 360 MENTORS FROM
THE BUSINESS COMMUNITY AND 240 BUSINESS PARTNERS,
AND THAT IS THE ESSENCE OF WHY THIS THING IS
SO UNIQUE. THERE IS A SMALL BUSINESS THAT NEEDS A PROJECT DONE.
MAYBE THEY NEED A BUSINESS PLAN. MAYBE THEY NEED A SOCIAL MEDIA PLAN.
MAYBE THEY NEED A WEBSITE DEVELOLOLOPED. WE WILL DO THAT FOR THEM, AND
WE'LL PARTNER FOR THEM AND DO THAT AT NO CHARGE, BECAUSE IT'S A GREAT EXPERIENCE, YOU KNOW,
FOR OUR STUDENTS TO BE INVOLVED WITH THAT, AND THERE AGAIN, VERY, VERY RELEVANT.
IT'S A REAL WORLD EXPERIENCE, AND IT'S GREAT FOR THE BUSINESS BECAUSE THEY'RE RECEIVING A
QUALITY PRODUCT AT A PRICE, QUITE FRANKLY, THAT'S VERY ATTRACTIVE.
LARGE BUSINESSES THAT HAVE COME ALONGSIDE OF US, THIS IS A TREMENDOUS RECRUITING BASE FOR
THEM. YOU KNOW, I'M THINKING OF OUR ENGINEERING PROGRAM.
BASICALLY THE AEROSPACE ENGINEERING PROGRAM HERE AT CAPS KIND OF INTRODUCES STUDENTS JUST
TO THE FOUNDATIONS OF AEROSPACE IN GENERAL AND LET'S THEM KNOW, YOU KNOW, ALL THE DIFFERENT
AVENUES THAT THEY HAVE FOR GOING INTO AERONAUTICS
OR AEROSPACE. IN CLASS, WE TRY TO DO SOME OF
THE FOUNDATION THINGS AS FAR AS BUILDING MODELS OR USING SIMULATIONS TO LOOK AT THE
FUNDAMENTALS OF FLIGHT AND HOW THRUST AND DRAG AND THOSE TYPES OF THINGS WORK ON AIRCRAFT.
BUT THEN WE TRY TO TAKE THOSE TO THE NEXT LEVEL,
AND REAL WORLD PROJECTS WHERE THEY'RE WORKING
WITH A MENTOR ON SOMETHING LIKE BUILDING A FLIGHT SIMULATOR. GARMIN'S INVOLVEMENT WITH
CAPS PROGRAM HAS INCLUDED HAVING PEOPLE LIKE ME
AND SOME OF OUR OTHER ENGINEERS COME TO CAPS AND
MENTOR STUDENTS, WHICH INCLUDES ONE-ON-ONE ASSISTANCE WITH PROJECTS AND GIVING NEW IDEAS
AND DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES, HOW STUDENTS CAN DO PROBLEM SOLVING AND ENGINEERING.
OTHER THINGS THAT WE'RE INVOLVED WITH INCLUDE PROVIDING ACTUAL PHYSICAL RESOURCES TO THE
PROJECTS. MOST RECENTLY, WE PROVIDED A G 1000 CLASS COCKPIT SYSTEM FOR
THE NEW FLIGHT SIMULATOR. WE LOOKED AROUND THE COUNTRY, QUITE FRANKLY, BEFORE WE
EMBARKED ON THIS JOURNEY TO SEE IF THERE WAS SOMETHING WE COULD MODEL AFTER, AND WE JUST
COULDN'T FIND ANYTHING. WE FEEL LIKE THIS IS SOMEWHAT OF A PIONEERING EFFORT.
WE ARE NOW IN OUR FOURTH YEAR OF OPERATION, AND WE HAVE SEEN NATIONAL INTEREST IN THIS
PROGRAM. SO ABOUT 50 SCHOOL DISTRICTS NATIONALLY HAVE COME THROUGH THE
BUILDING, TAKEN A LOOK AT WHAT WE'RE TRYING TO
DO, BECAUSE IT'S ALL ABOUT AUTHENTIC LEARNING,
AND SCHOOLS AND SCHOOL DISTRICTS ARE REALLY ENGAGED
IN TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHAT THE MODEL OF THE
FUTURE OF LEARNING IS GOING TO LOOK LIKE. BY NO MEANS DO WE FEEL LIKE
IT'S GOING TO REPLACE THE COMPREHENSIVE HIGH SCHOOL. WE THINK COMPREHENSIVE HIGH
SCHOOL HAS A PLACE AND THERE ARE KIDS THAT BENEFIT
GREATLY FROM THAT, BUT WE DO KNOW AND WE'RE
EVIDENCED THAT THERE IS A SEGMENT OF KIDS, IN FACT, A SUBSTANTIAL SEGMENT OF KIDS THAT
CAN REALLY BENEFIT FROM THIS TYPE OF RELEVANCE. BELIEVE IT OR NOT, STUDENTS
IN THE CAPS PROGRAM HAVE ALSO CREATED DOZENS OF BUSINESSES AND PRODUCTS, EVERYTHING FROM
RECHARGE SABL CELL PHONES TO A PROSTHETIC KNEE BRACE, RANDY. WOW.
SOME OF THESE TEENAGERS EVEN HAVE PATENTS ON THEIR PRODUCTS. NEXT WEEK ON THE LOCAL SHOW,
WE MEET SOME OF THOSE ENTERPRISING STUDENTS. LEAD FUNDING OF KCPT'S
REPORTING OF EDUCATION ISSUES IS FUNDED IN PART BY A GENEROUS GRANT FROM THE KAUFFMAN
FOUNDATION AND ADDITIONAL CIVIC FUNDERS.