Cedar Falls CAPS Experience

A Journey with Be The Match: From Design Sprint to Event By Alivia Davidson, Marissa Johnson, Maegan Wells, and Morgan Ames The Journey Begins In January of 2022, a new semester began, and we were signed up to take CAPS Med for three periods of our school day.  At the time, we had no idea what professional experiences, trials, and opportunities we would walk through. We were more worried about what clothes to wear, as we were told to dress business casual for class.  We knew that CAPS stood for the Center for Advanced Professional Studies, and we were eager, and a bit nervous, about what was ahead.  Sprint Design  On the second or third day of CAPS, we participated in the design sprint.  In short, this is a three-day opportunity that all CAPS associates participate in, where we are given a problem and have only a few days to come up with a solution.  On the final day, each group stands on stage and pitches its unique solution to a panel of judges, inc...

FROM THE WATERLOO-CEDAR FALLS COURIER (12/26/21) CEDAR FALLS — Ethan Wiechmann didn’t have much time to decide when he was asked to lead a new career program at Cedar Falls High School. In less than two months, the Center for Advanced Professional Studies would begin its first semester and the math teacher would need to get up to speed on the program. “I really didn’t know what CAPS was,” he admitted in a recent interview. But two days later, on Dec. 7, 2016, during a meeting with Cedar Falls Community Schools’ administrators and Board of Education members, he was introduced to Nate Clayberg. Clayberg, who operated a business solutions firm and had also been asked to assist with CAPS, discussed the challenges of getting companies and schools to work well together. Wiechmann recalls thinking, “this is definitely something that’s worth looking at” and signed on to the effort. It was “two weeks to Christmas break and a month (of school being in session) before this thing ...

Please join part three of our special episode series about the Center for Advanced Professional Studies (CAPS) program.  We will hear from CAPS students about how the program helped them find their career interests and a path after high school.  Cedar Valley CAPS Alums Kabeer Bhatia (CF CAPS '17), Kylee Mrzlak (Denver CAPS '21), Karen Yasuda (CF CAPS '21)  

We’re back for part two of our three-part special on the Center for Advanced Professional Studies (CAPS) program based in Cedar Falls, Iowa.  Part two focuses on how the CAPS program keeps business leaders engaged with training the next generation of working Iowans. Kryton's Kevin Harberts, Heartland Technology's Tony Lang, and Cedar Falls Main Street's Kim Bear talk about the value of CAPS for their businesses.  

This episode starts a special three-part series about Cedar Falls Center for Advanced Professional Studies (CF CAPS).  Part one focuses on how CAPS prepares students for professional work environments through projects with local businesses. Cedar Valley CAPS Program Development Director Nate Clayberg and Cedar Falls CAPS Program Director Ethan Wiechman discuss how the program helps students discover their career interests.