Episode 2

The J-CAPS podcast welcomes Mackenzie, Maggie, and Paige, who discuss their experiences in the CAPS program. They heard about CAPS in their freshman year and decided to join to explore their future career paths. They have enjoyed the tours and connecting with professionals in the community. They talk about the challenges of email communication and the importance of perseverance. Mackenzie and Maggie are working on a landscaping project, while Paige is working on a project to bring sports experiences to special needs students. They have faced some barriers but have received support from professionals and are making progress. Hey guys, welcome back to the J-CAPS podcast. I have a few special guests with me at the moment. My name is Mackenzie Butterfield. My name is Maggie Turner. And I'm Paige Stifler and this is our first semester in J-CAPS. So we are all CAPS learners at the moment. There is also a CAPS 2, so they would have done it a previous semester before. So how did you guys first hear about CAPS and why did you join CAPS? I first heard it my freshman year when we had some juniors and seniors come in and talk about it. And it was always talked about a lot through Paige, our instructor. And I joined to help me figure out my future career because I am undecided. I guess I kind of heard about CAPS my freshman year as well. Definitely went to the kid's run school talking about it. Didn't really think at first it was going to be for me just because it was more of a professional setting, which didn't really, at the time, freshman year, I was like, um, I'm not the most professional person out there. But I guess junior year is really when I started to think maybe just try something new. So here I am. So I also heard about it my freshman year, like when it started, and just hearing the upperclassmen talk about it. And then my junior year, kind of like Maggie said, I just thought maybe I'll try something new and it'll help with my career path. So I joined. As an overall experience for CAPS, what has been your favorite memory? Well, in CAPS right now, I am really enjoying it. I think it is something that everybody should take if they have the opportunity to, no matter if you are a girl or a boy. My favorite moment so far was probably when we went to MHI and learned the history about it and saw all of the artifacts and everything. Mark, Mark or Mike? Mike. So Mike was our captain and he was amazing. I would highly recommend him if you ever have the chance to go there. Definitely go to MHI if you ever have the chance. It is a fantastic experience. It's down in Independence. My overall experience so far, I mean, definitely not what I thought it was going to be. I mean that in a good way. Definitely my favorite part would probably be the tours, but also the people. I feel like this semester we have a great group of people. Just really fun to talk to. We all connected very quickly. Yeah, I definitely feel like tours and people are the most fun about it, but also getting to be part of the community and doing projects has also been fun for me. How many tours have we gone on so far? We had the MHI tour. The inter-tour? Yeah, the theater one. There's another one. There's another one. I don't know. I feel like going to the Capitol in a couple of weeks. Yeah, going to the Capitol. And we've had a couple of other experiences with going to the Leadership Conference. Oh, yeah. We had the Heartland Technology Tour. Yeah, that was our other tour. Yes, we got to tour around the heart of the, you know, the experience. There's a lot of experiences that we experienced throughout CATS that not a lot of your normal average high school student would experience, like when we got to tour in Gator or Heartland. It's a great experience, and I think anybody that has the chance to join CATS, they should, especially in the Cedar Valley or the Sioux City area. What would you guys say to someone if they didn't know exactly what CATS was and they were asking about it? I would probably explain it as a professional opportunity to expand your knowledge on your profession you want to go into and even your networking as a person. That is something huge within CATS that your name does get around, and it gives you a lot more opportunities in the future. Like we have one CATS associate that just got a job offer from doing a job show. So there's always a lot of great opportunities that come throughout CATS, and CATS is also a way for you to connect with the community through projects and just experiencing new things that you wouldn't do in school. Definitely if you're looking for a more professional setting, definitely try CATS out. But it's also the networking. Not at all like what you think it would be. Because when people will, like I know when I first thought of CATS, when they were like, oh, it's like the Center of Advanced Professional Studies, I was like, oh, so like the smart kids go there. But obviously, if you're anyone, if I'm here, I don't know, just try it. Like it's not going to hurt even to try it. And honestly, once you're here, it's not as bad as you think it is. You would think like, oh, it's just going to be more work. But once you get out of the classroom, it's like such a good experience, and it just really helps you to like expand your knowledge on your career path, and it also just gives you connections that you wouldn't find if you were in school all day. I would say that a lot of the old CATS associates wouldn't really tell us that the first three weeks of CATS will be your hardest weeks because you do a lot of training, and you have to be pushed out of your comfort zone multiple times, and that CATS is also here for you to grow in the aspects that you are lacking. So if you're lacking organization or communication skills, like you're here to learn, so. Definitely the first, like the first three weeks were definitely the hardest. Immediately right off the bat, we started our first week, and then the next week we had to present in front of a bunch of people that we did not know. Yeah, the first three weeks are the hardest, but it's not, it's only hard if you haven't done it before. Like it's something new. So it's not like, it's only harder if you don't just jump in really like right off the bat. That's what gets you started. The first three weeks go by so fast that honestly, like if you are nervous about them, there's no reason to be because as soon as like you do it, it's over with, and you're on to like the next thing. So it's not, they don't give you time just to sit there and like think about it or you get to be nervous. It's kind of just like, okay, like you have two days before we do this, and it's like, okay, you're doing it, and then you're already done with it, and it's awesome. It's just quick and easy, and you can get all your nerves, like you're not allowed to have nerves at that point. You're just like get it done, get like everything done. But like Maggie said, it isn't hard. It's just getting you out of your comfort zone, and they want to see you succeed. They're not here to hurt you in any way in your future career or anything like that. Like they're only, they only have the best for you, like they don't want you to. They have you in their best interest. Yeah. 16, 17, 18 years old. And yeah, I don't know, I just feel like it's just, it pushes you to like thrive in the things that you want to do, and it really does help you like experience that in a way that you wouldn't in high school. I don't think there's any other classes I've taken in this entire three years I've been in high school, because I am a junior and you guys are seniors. I have never taken a class like this before. I've almost recognized that like sometimes I do wish that we could do this earlier in our high school career, because like if I had this knowledge and these skills throughout my high school career, it would be so much easier to like, as you said, to throw yourself into things, and to give it your all no matter if you are scared or not, and just like failure is okay. Like that means you tried. You tried your best, and now you're going to rethink your decisions and do it again. Yeah, definitely. And in class you're not always going to succeed, and they tell you that right off the bat. Like you're going to struggle. There's going to be times where things don't go your way, but you have to regroup and just figure out like how do you make it work. And sometimes it just takes weeks at a time to just sit down and like think about it and work through it, either like with your peers or even just with your instructor, and just like ask for opinions, ask for help. And eventually you'll just, you'll get it. It was at a point with one of the directors when we would go to the AEA, Ethan, he said, no, I remember, it wasn't Ethan actually, it was Nate, it was Nate. One of the directors, Nate, when we were at the AEA, especially if you are nervous about something, just sit back, take a breather, and then go for it again. And everything, it's just, everything will be quick and fine. You're not, conditions aren't going to hurt you. You're not going to die. Everything will be okay. Everybody messes up, so it's okay. Professionals mess up. It happens all the time. Well, and like what Paige said, you are going to struggle and you are going to fail the first couple times, but it's better to do it in a setting where there's other professionals there to help you figure it out and work through it than being in the real world on your own and not knowing what to do. So it's definitely better to just have the people that know what they're doing there to help you. These failures help you get better. Like you need these experiences to, because you're not going to be perfect right off the bat. Nobody is perfect. You just, you just have to, it's a trial and error kind of thing. So with that, what projects are you guys working on? Currently, me and Maggie are working on the BCHB landscaping project. We are talking to somebody in BCHB, and we are putting together a design and a quote, hopefully, with a landscaping business to present to our boss anyway, and we are just getting the ball rolling, seeing what we can do, helping Dave out, which is neat, because people have busy schedules, so they can't do some projects, so they look for us to help them. I think it's been a good experience so far. Definitely has been a good experience so far. Just really looking to get a project, like Mackenzie said, rolling and start getting stuff done with it. I know this project has been going on for a while, actually, because when it first started up, because when COVID came around, so obviously something fell, like, shut down with that, so they weren't able to finish it, and that's kind of just been sitting on our things to do. So just kind of looking to finally get that done and get that off of there, so. So we have something finally done. Yeah. I will say, most of what we have met during this sometimes experiences are not good ones, and sometimes they are, I mean, it's just how you look at it and the knowledge that you get from it and how you deal with the situation. Like, it really helped a lot of us as our character, and now we are going to go forward. We did a lot of research on plants, and we have talked to many different people. Maggie can talk about getting dirt samples. Oh, yes, that was an interesting experience. That was an interesting experience to do. So as well as, like, not only do we, like, sort of, like, getting the dirt samples, we didn't just, like, talk to associates, like, around, like, the TAP building, like, around coworkers. We actually got in contact with a teacher from Jeff Up, Ms. Rigdon, and she basically said that she was going to give us ideas of, like, what plants to do and, like, what to do with them. We can't get dirt samples. So we walked over, or we drove over to the BCHC clinic, and so basically we had to go inside. We asked for dirt, like, we asked if we could get some dirt samples because, obviously, you don't want to be just walking around the building and having the nurses look out and be like, oh, I know. Obviously, you don't want to be walking around with them being like, oh, who are these people outside? And, you know, when it comes to, like, who will get the dirt samples, we kind of just had to use whatever you could find. So we ended up using a small plastic cup, a multiple small plastic cup, but then a plastic spoon. Dr. John said, that's all that matters. Came back, delivered it to our science teacher, and she was like, buzz, because it just happened to rain the day before, so it wasn't really dirt anymore. And we let it sit out for a couple of days, and we came back. And one thing with new builds is they mess up the layers of the dirt, so a lot of the clay was at the top. So plants can't really grow through clay, so when we go to plant, we're going to have to go in the sand and mash it into the dirt. So we took four samples, and, like, one of them was like, oh, it's like normal dirt, and then slowly, like, it slowly got harder and harder as you went on. And the last one was like a cookie. The last one was like clay in the dirt. They're all like clay in the dirt. They're plants. They're different layers. So basically, when they came in, and they were, like, basically, like... Excavating. Yeah, like doing, like, excavation or whatever, they basically were removing, like, the layers of, like, dirt. Like, they would, like, dig and stuff like that, make the land, like, nice and, like, flat so they could build on it. And this is what happened was the dirt got all, like, just mixed up together. So you have some parts where it's, like, normal dirt, and other parts where it's, like, a little bit of dirt versus clay, and other parts where it's just, like, straight clay. Yeah. So definitely going to have to, uh... Work on it. Yeah. You're definitely going to have to struggle with your project. Ooh. Um... The biggest struggle, um... I'm going to get my emails. People... Okay, so, like, we have emails of a few people. Mainly people that have all been with, um... Doing their project. Like, bigger people, like, landscapers, like, obviously Dave. And, um... Because they are, like... Obviously, like, they're busy. That's why they're having, like, the CAF do it. So it's just been kind of, like, waiting for them to respond back, seeing what they want us to do. But then also, when you're, like, high school students, you walk into, like, a business setting, so people don't really take you seriously. So it just is... It's a blast in, like, what you're trying to do, because you're just trying to get a... Like, first time you're a project done, but when people don't take you seriously, it's just... It sets that back a little bit. But at the same time, it comes down to your perspective on it. And just because you have a bad day with someone doesn't mean it's going to always happen. So to come back in with a new attitude each day and see how it goes. But, yes, I will agree. The emails are hard, because you... The main part of it is, like, we had a huge block where we needed to talk to Dave. He's extremely busy, and we needed to present him a slideshow with everything. All the research we did. And once we could actually talk to him and present it, it was amazing, because then we had all this freedom to continue to go into email and actually give, like, concrete information to the nursery. We also got... We met with someone right from the start. I can't remember his name. Well, we met with one of, like, the original people that was actually there, like, building. Like, the building. And he had... Basically, this project had been going on for a while, so he was kind of, like, at, like, a loss of, like, what we all did and everything. What about your project? Okay, so I've been working on the Special Olympics project, but not necessarily going to the Special Olympics. So, basically, I've been working with Zach and Justin, and we are figuring out a way to bring, like, a special needs team to dress up, just so that people with special needs that go to dress up pretty much ages, like, 7 through 12th grade can experience sports in a way that they can keep up with it and also just, like, enjoy it and be part of a team. And we also want to, like, bring in other athletes to allow them to, like, help the students and, like, see things from their perspective. So, for me, it's more of a, like, how can we be more inclusive in our school, which we're pretty good at it, like, right now, because we have, like, the one-on-one IEPs. But, like, just how can we give them more of an experience, you know what I mean? Like, basically, just how do we make them feel special too? Like, how do we make them feel normal too? Not exactly normal, but, like, yeah. Just included. Included and not feel like an oddball. Yeah. Kind of just, like, included and accepted, I guess, in a way. Yes. I will say that Paige has also had specific meetings that I thought you should talk about. So, my first meeting, I didn't know Max before I started working with him, but we kind of talked about my interest in special education, and he brought up that he worked with Special Olympics and wanted to start his team again. So, I thought, okay, well, that's kind of a cool experience. So, then we sat down and we kind of talked about how to make this happen. So, our first meeting, that was our superintendent, I dropped off, Chad Colegen, and we kind of just sat down and were like, so, what are your thoughts on this? And his background is that his wife was a special education teacher, and she's also disabled in a way just because she had a stroke, and she's in a wheelchair now, so she struggles. So, that really, like, set in on his heart, and he really loved the idea. So, then after that, we went and talked with Tammy from M's Coffee, which is a coffee shop that is staffed with people with special needs. So, that's kind of cool, too. And she is one of the, like, main people of the Special Olympics team here in Iowa. So, that was really cool, and we sat down and we kind of talked with her, and then we met with Rob Sabers, which is our AD at CSF, and he wants to partner with the Special Olympics team. So, our next step is to have a meeting with one of the top people at Special Olympics, but after that, it's kind of just, you know, this is our specific sports that are going to be for the Special Olympics. So, right now, we have four main sports that we're going to focus on. We're going to do track and field, cheerleading, basketball, and football wrestling. Those are the three that I remember. But that's just, like, if we do go to the Special Olympics, then that would be something that would qualify as a Special Olympics sport. So, it's kind of just easy to, like, find people from the school that would be able to help. Has there been any barriers for your project so far? Really, just, like, a lot of my project has been research. Just, like, in the beginning, it was, like, finding what is Special Olympics. And then from there, I really haven't had very many barriers because all the people that I wanted to communicate with have been very willing to communicate with me. So, yeah, it's just been a lot of research in the experience. Has there been, for barriers-wise, is there anything that, when you were trying to research anything, that you couldn't find? Yeah, so, when I was researching, like, sports-wise, you find a lot of sports. But, like, you have to think what sports are related to high school. Yeah, and that makes sense. But thank you guys for listening. This is the J Coast Podcast. Bye now. Have a good rest of your day.