Episode 5

Nate Klayberg has been working with the CAPS program for seven years in Iowa. The program focuses on connecting business and education and providing career development opportunities for students. CAPS started in Cedar Falls in 2015 and has since expanded to other schools in Iowa. The program aims to get students out of their comfort zones and develop durable skills for the workforce. Nate believes that CAPS should continue to expand both horizontally to reach more students and vertically to include younger grades. The program has evolved over the years, with increased enrollment and the addition of formalized English credit for participating students. Hey guys, welcome back to the Jessup podcast. This is your host Izzy, and today I have a special guest Nate Klayberg Special is stretching it maybe a little bit Just asking you a few questions here about Your involvement with CAPS. What got you involved in the CAPS program? Well, I guess I'll go back to Setting up my role. So I'm in my seventh year with our CAPS program in this Cedar Valley region of Iowa So I started working with Cedar Falls Helping make business connections for their program back in I guess the first semester was the spring of 2017 So I was brought in my background is not education. It's from the business world So helped make the connections between business and and education Which is a struggle and that's evolved over the years to support career development project development program development as we got just up in Wapsie Valley and Don Bosco and Charles City and Denver and Columbus all involved here in the last I suppose three or four years and supporting some programs in Western part of the state as far as CAPS in that area as I now forget the question you asked me And I don't know if I actually answered that question You did What is your official title like with CAPS? So titles are cheap so you can always make up any title you want So that's those are usually free But technically my my title is business liaison or director of business and program development Is how we termed it depends on what it is that I bring up, but you know It's it's more I'm more focused on the work. We're doing instead of what my title is How did CAPS get introduced and when? So CAPS in this area Goes back to I think 2015 so the superintendent Cedar Falls School District to Annie Patee This was a school board directive that they wanted to see and explore work based learning profession based learning authentic based learning programs and there was a few across the state across the country and they saw the CAPS model that Waukee School District in Des Moines area was in or had been exploring before that So the CAPS network is now 100 programs across 26 different states 160 odd school districts in four countries and they focus on profession based learning So that's out of Kansas City the Kansas City area, Overland Park, Blue Valley School District is where that began and that was one when Cedar Falls schools put together kind of a exploratory committee of different business people Educators administrators Community leaders to see which one they should get in and they said well CAPS is what we should get involved in So I was brought into a meeting back in December of 2016 and that's where we met the I guess Ethan Wiechmann Who's our Cedar Falls CAPS director now and was our first instructor in the spring of 17 When this all kind of kicked off so It's been it seems like yesterday, but it's hard to believe that it's been seven years, but Yeah, like I said, we're now one of I guess you could say Jessup is now one of I think 15 programs in the state of Iowa, which is probably Close to 15 to 20 percent of the programs across the country that are affiliated with with the CAPS experience CAPS started as with 13 students and that what's on that right? Yeah, so there was 13 student associates in that first class, so it was how's it how's it biking pump, which is a manufacturer in Cedar Falls, they're a corporate Idex is the company. They're like a fortune 500 company and Before we got involved they said yeah, they would host that program in there because a key a key thing about why CAPS we feel is excited is Successful here is because we take you as students outside the school and even take you particularly outside your community And you have to put you in a professional environment You get to work on real projects you get to actually do some creation like you're doing with this podcast and explore what those things are as far as as as career options so Viking pump was our first host site and it evolved from there when we had 13 student associates that I Would say were pretty mixed bag I think there were 13 students that got talked into taking this yeah, because they didn't really know what it was But you know you coming in from Dunkerton. There's been students before you from Dunkerton that have been involved with it, so it makes it a little easier to maybe have a Interest in it just like you're going to go later today and talk to some potential CAPS associates from Dunkerton to come to Jessup, so You know you look at those first 13, and they got involved in and many of them I Can think back there's probably three or four particular ones that? Once they went through you know all the onboarding that you kind of went through as far as leadership and project management and durable skills Were drawn to now want to get to school every day and be engaged in school And especially you got to leave the building or involved in different things There's a freedom to that and that unfortunately. I think it's appealing to many and it's scary to others TAS is probably one of my most favorite times of the day Probably because it is outside of that. It's not your normal like classroom like kind of Like class that you could take and just different from like all the years. I've been in school and Being able to do something new and fun, but it wasn't that in the beginning was it for you talk about Here's me asking questions But you talk about it from your perspective of you say that now But what was it like when you had your first couple weeks absolutely terrified? I? Was when we got into the design sprint I Was they were just I was told we are going to present this like you were given a problem And you needed to solve it, and I was not ready But that wasn't unusual for everybody else in that room too, right so you were in this together with others that Were scared and worried and some were mad and some were some were excited about it You know as far as getting to do something that was real world, and it wasn't necessarily Textbook ABCD. Here's how you do it, but not having that structure. That's also frustrating to many students, too I think because we have like half of our associates are caps, too. I Think that because with Riley Boyer. She is a caps to Associate and She was in my group and she helped us out a lot with this because she's already gone through this the semester beforehand Being able to kind of walk us through like what you're going to kind of expect Like when we go to these trainings and with all the stuff with onboarding Yeah, many of them don't get that kind of insight. They just get thrown into it You have some ideas to it. Yeah, this is our biggest caps to group really ever and this is the first time They've been actually trying to incorporate Things like activities for caps to Associates What about caps do you think is beneficial Of course I gotta say all of it You know right, but I think the biggest thing and I talked a little bit about of it was getting Students out of their comfort zone So early on as as Ethan I were putting this together and as we've developed it with the instructors and even with Other associates coming up we wanted we want the associates to be comfortable being uncomfortable Because you're going to be in all sorts of situations where you don't know what's going to happen You don't know what you're going to be doing and you've got to figure out how to ask the right questions or or have the Resilience to bounce back when something doesn't go well whether that's a meeting or your Technology recording a podcast doesn't go as you maybe want it to be do you just give it up and throw it on the ground? Or do you fight back and say okay? Why didn't that record or what can we do or how can you even ask for help and that's unfortunately? I think I don't know what it is. I'm not saying I'm not gonna lump all of the high school Age students into this but Asking for help seems to be an obstacle for some that you're just going to figure it out or you're just going to guess on it Sometimes even googling it I feel like is a stretch that you're allowed You know do you feel like you're allowed to do that? But being able to communicate and have those solid durable skills to problem-solve to do critical thinking to be able to communicate To have confidence speaking in front of people or just doing things is not just about it's not about The grade that's coming out of here But we're more focused on getting you the experience you need to move on to your next stages in life And and that's something that we challenged especially last couple years that each of our associates no matter if you Junior you've got a little more wiggle room Because graduation isn't knocking on the door just yet compared to a senior But you know right now and juniors get this too, but seniors more like so you're graduating. What are you doing next year? So you know that's a key thing that we want to make sure as our tagline is preparing students for their purpose or all students That you get asked that question You know what's going to happen next and we can propel you forward beyond graduation that it's not just here's your diploma Have a nice day At least with CAPS I didn't kind of figure out what I wanted to do and when I walked in here I had No clue I had not the slightest idea I had a General area of like things I was interested in and I knew I kind of wanted to work with I said I wanted to be in the creative area and You are you you came into one of our? Times during caps and you asked us what we wanted to pee and my first thing was radio broadcaster or photographer because I didn't know and I Kind of gave what's like the things that I've been comfortable with like my father is a radio broadcaster and I took a photography class last semester So I was just like maybe one of those two because you only know what you know There's things out there that you haven't seen yet, too. Yeah, or didn't get to see at that point or even consider I went on a couple job shadows and figured out that I wanted to be a cosmetologist because I went I ended up job shadowing Capri and I loved how much How there's always something new every day You're always on your feet and that's something that's really like is something that I wanted for a future career is something like Being able to do something new and just keeping on my feet and like just kind of a go-go-go kind of like mentality with us I Think the favorite thing is like even walk into the day here in Jessup and you guys have you know just a few weeks left and I think back to where you guys were at when you walked into the Central Rovers AEA for the design sprint back in January and Being able to compare where you were at then to where you're at now and being able to have Discussions that it's not just that it's hard to it's hard I know you guys are all high school kids, but it's raised my level that I have, you know I think I have higher expectations, but I think you guys have also put higher expectations on yourselves For the work you're doing and how you're doing it and how you behave. So I think it's that evolution of I Don't want to say growing up but finding yourselves to be the young adults that that that we've been focused on and caps does that because we I Guess we give you a longer leash, you know, there's trust we treat you like adults, you know Especially when you look at you know, you don't curtain associates You're allowed to leave your community and it takes what 10 or 15 minutes to get here And you're walking into you know I can't imagine initially coming in to a strange place and you're going to be with other kids You may or may not know and getting involved in who knows what that there's a lot to overcome there So being able to see where you guys began and then where you ended and I'm not with you guys on a regular basis So I see it. I See it maybe a little bit differently Then maybe your instructor sees it or your peers see it Yeah, you know, it's just like a you know You've got a you've got a little cousin you don't see but once a year like wow you keep growing and you keep maturing You know, that's that's the fun part for me I feel like every time you see us it's different because when we first started We rarely all knew each other besides Some of the caps to people that it is last semester So the Dunkerton people that are caps to knew those people already and already had that sort of connection but I Was just walking in and I did not know anybody besides Duncan and people so I kind of stayed with them and stuck to the people that I was comfortable with well then we throw you in some trainings in Cedar Falls and you're mixed in with Denver kids and Wapsie Valley and Cedar Falls and and That's fun too because you look across that room and you don't know who's from which school And that's the environment you're going to be put in if you go get a job someday or you go on to college You're not going to know these people. So I feel like there's a comfort level to that comes out of caps It's going to help you guys down the line as well. I remember it was one of our trainings and We got mixed up into different groups when we had to um, I Don't know. It wasn't the leadership training. It was We had to agile scrum. Yes. It was that one We were talking to the different instructors and being in different groups with we were not allowed to sit by anybody we knew right and That was one of the most uncomfortable times throughout caps probably For me because I did not know anything about this. I was like, what am I getting into like? What am I supposed to expect? What am I supposed to say? I Was completely like blindsided Not expecting this, but I feel a lot better that that's over with And I'm where I am now compared to when I was when I first started caps Yeah, and I think that's consistent some on amongst many of your peers as well that feeling yeah Why should the caps program expand I guess I'll say the word expansion in two different areas. So when you look at expansion from expanding from Cedar Falls to Jessup and Columbus then expanding from Wapsie Valley Don Bosco to Denver and then on to Charles City and on to The people in the Sioux land area in the western part of the state You know We feel every student should have this opportunity to be in a program like this to get a chance That you've got scheduled time that you're learning these durable skills that you are practicing them But you're also involved in real projects and also get the time to do career exploration or hey, I want to host a podcast When do I get to do it? Well, you get to do that during caps time because it's it's a project Because you're learning real-life skills you're having to organize The interviews set up the equipment you've got a you know, produce the product and get it distributed. That's a real project So, you know having more high school students have this opportunity is great. And that's one expansion on the horizontal level but one thing we're working on Cedar Falls and trying to share it with our other programs is to Expand vertically and when we say that it's how do we get? Elementary and middle school and even Sophomores more interested in this type of learning and experience because we feel like if there's more of that learning at the early ages man, when they get into this building and they start working on projects that is going to reduce our training time and you get to Get to projects quicker and get to do experiences quicker If we're doing some of this type of stuff that early ages so it's important across the board because from an employer standpoint and my background is economic development workforce development and when I talk to companies and Employers, it's the type of skills that you're learning here that they love It's not necessarily the technical skills that you're learning to code or learning to weld or that you can put together You know some sort of business type paper outreach or marketing plan or whatever They can teach you those technical skills based on what they want But the durable skills is the foundational thing that's going to spread all across no matter if your next step is going into a trade school or college or to work That that's going to make you a stronger Stronger employee or a stronger member of the workforce. I was gonna ask Do you think that? The Younger kids saying per se maybe even freshmen or sophomores should be involved with caps or should it strictly be? For juniors and seniors. Well, we've had sophomores, you know There's some sophomores right now that are in Denver and we've had soft sophomores that have come through Columbus They can do it it's a different mindset because again graduations doesn't seem far away to them As a freshman or a sophomore and we start talking about career aspirations and choosing things It's like well, that's still a little ways away, even though it's right there on the horizon but I think is there a way in some of our early developmental classes through a business class or an FCS class or some sort of exploratory and junior high Or even in sixth grade. We've done some stuff with some sixth graders in Cedar Falls that have done Kind of a design sprint where they They look around their school and they put together a bug list like what bugs you about your school? Okay, and and anything that we get into and it's great advice if you can always complain about whatever you want But you better have at least two solutions for what you feel like that problem gets solved So, you know a sixth grade group in Cedar Falls. They saw that there was an issue with The sixth graders when they came out for lunch the swings were all taken So that's a real-world problem in elementary as the swings were taken, you know The under the little kids had it so they presented a plan to their administration on how to change The release schedule at lunch or some appropriation based on how to use the playground equipment and it's like well, that's real You know This is coming from this is something that bugs them and instead of just complain and saying we don't get to be on the swings They said well, here's a solution for it. So that seems small in sixth grade swings who cares but to them It's a big deal and then how do we start getting that mindset coming up six seventh eighth ninth tenth and when you get into caps and you start Working on real-world challenges that business partners have that it's not just simulations But you're actually working on something real that's going to have an impact How has the caps program changed since you started working with it? You know, I think the biggest thing is obviously the numbers we have in the communities we're in I think a cool thing that the future associates in Wapsie Valley Denver and Jessup will get next year that has had a real impact on Cedar Falls is now You know, we were already doing some of our oral communication or public speaking Yeah Exercises anyway that you can sit here and have a conversation with me on a microphone or you can present like you did last Week at the showcase in front of people and tell your story We're formalizing that now in these Rural schools that you actually that takes care of an English credit. So it puts more value on this course, which is an elective But it puts more value that you don't have to now take that formal English credit in your high school But it also counts as a college credit For English so that gives more purpose and it gives more value for Students to get involved in caps that that may think well I don't want to fit that in my schedule because I have all these other courses. I need to take well It takes out some of them Yeah, it does take out some of them and it shows some value and that will you know It has increased our enrollment in Cedar Falls, you know, I think we went up 30% last year We'll go up to probably another 30% this next year and it's guy and it's already happening as far as we see an enrollment for 23-24 for Jessup and Dunkerton and Wapsie Valley in Denver. They're involved in in caps So, you know, that's that's the biggest change that we've seen as far as because that when that has happened. It means your school district Administration sees value in getting involved in something like that and putting resources towards it How do you predict us how caps will be like in the next five years? That's a good question You know, it's it's sustaining it I think you know at what point especially in smaller programs like Jessup and Wapsie Valley in Denver is there's only 15 slots and Denver gets five of them a semester and at what point is Dunkerton saying we want ten spots and Jessup says no we need all the spots we have and Then what happens from there? You know, I think that's a good problem to have and so the complete opposite where we've seen with some other programs That's only have two and are struggling to get students to even take it We had a program, you know in the last couple of years that you know It's kind of gone up and down as far as as where they're at So, you know where it's at in the next five years, I think we'll continue to see You know growth as far as what it is I hope it is in that vertical growth scale that we've got sixth graders involved in eighth graders involved in this type of thinking and training that makes this a Capstone type experience for what you've already learned. So, you know how far we've come in the last seven years I don't think we could have predicted this I think Leadership that started this seven, you know, seven six seven years ago probably thought at this point This would be our 10-year mark if we if we would have made it and we've made it we keep going so I guess we'll see where things go What it's actually gonna look like but I think you know, it looks good, you know so far. Hopefully it keeps getting better Yeah, exactly. Do you see yourself working in caps for many more years? You know, that's always a question right, you know based on opportunity and as growth is and what my role is you know, I want to stay as involved as I can I can't give you an exact answer because like anything it's opportunities come up and where things evolved and know there's already some things that we've discussed as far as Our growth plan and and how we do better by business outreach and how can we better train instructors and get businesses connected? so I Anticipate always being involved in one capacity or another What are your last thoughts on caps as a whole I would urge students and parents You know because we can't do this if we don't have students. Mm-hmm, but we also can't do it if we don't have business partners yeah, so, you know the projects and Experiences that come from those real business partners or the fuel for what we do as far as how we teach durable skills and the relationships we have But to drive interest in enrollment it I would encourage Families and students to look longer term just you know when we go through The career discovery workshop like I took you guys through and pathway of purpose You're coming through here. We want you to know what your next step is and why but we want to have a forefront on Where do you feel like what kind of profession you want to be in you want to start a business you want to Work for somebody you want to what is that? Let's spend time figuring that out and then let's reverse engineer that that plan through Connections and experience and skill sets to actually get you to that point You know, that's that's what I urge parents and students to think about is don't necessarily think about What do I need to do in high school now to just get me into college? Because that's the short-term thinking so I want to think infinite the infinite game of long term this is where I'm trying to get how do I utilize my experience and Opportunities within caps have been set me up to to reach that point which could be a year or five or six years down the Line. Well, thank you for talking to me and thanks for listening. This is the Jessup podcast You guys have a lovely rest of your guys's day