Rocky Mountain launches CAPS program to bring real-world learning to students

Rocky Mountain High School has begun an ambitious new way of teaching and learning this school year.

After months of training, planning and cooperation among teachers, administrators and community members, the school has launched GRIZZ CAPS, its first Center for Advanced Professional Studies program. The model is designed to move learning beyond the traditional classroom by connecting students with real problems, local businesses and professional expectations. Rocky Mountain is the first school in Wyoming to implement the CAPS model.

Rather than spending every class period listening to lectures, completing worksheets or preparing for a test, CAPS students, known as associates, will spend two periods a day working with others, meeting deadlines, communicating with adults and developing solutions to projects that matter beyond the school walls.

“The program’s central goal is to give students a chance to learn in a more authentic way,” Rocky Mountain High School Principal Betsy Sammons said. “The biggest thing is wanting an opportunity for kids to have authentic learning. I think the success will be how we see kids performing and making decisions on their own.”

CAPS programs give high school students experience in a professional culture. Students work on projects brought to them by businesses and organizations, use tools and methods common in the workplace and learn from people working in their fields. The idea is to help students build skills that will serve them whether they continue into college, career training or the workforce.

For students, the difference is ownership. CAPS is built around individual interests while requiring them to collaborate, solve problems and take greater responsibility for their work. Rather than simply learning about a subject, students will be expected to create something tangible, whether it is a product, presentation, performance or solution to a community problem. They will also be able to revise and improve their work, much as they would in a professional setting.

The school year began with a 10-day GRIZZ CAPS Boot Camp at the Cowley Museum, where community members discussed the durable skills students will need in the program, the workplace and life beyond high school. The group meets off campus in the old Cowley Town Hall to reinforce how differently the class is taught and the professional expectations placed on students. 

Jared Boardman spoke about critical thinking; Stacy Bair addressed leadership; Cindy Asay discussed creativity; John Bernhisel covered collaboration; and Mariah Mader focused on communication. Matt Davidson spoke about character, Josh Haslem discussed growth mindset, Hiedi Christensen addressed mindfulness, LaRae Dobbs covered fortitude and A.J. Dickson spoke about metacognition.

Those skills will not be treated as side lessons. They are at the core of how students will be evaluated.

“We’re working on the grading piece right now because it’s going to look so much different than a regular class,” Sammons said. “It’s going to be things like meeting deadlines, making connections, communicating with the businesses and how to solve problems as adults would.”

For its first year, Rocky Mountain is beginning with what Sammons calls a general CAPS program. Rather than focusing immediately on a single career field, students will have opportunities to work with a range of businesses and community partners.

“Because we’re doing a general CAPS, it can be any type of business,” Sammons said. “It gives us the opportunity to connect with lots of different organizations.”

That could mean a project for a local store, a daycare provider, a construction-related business, a health-care organization or another employer with a challenge students may be able to help solve. The projects will be based on real needs brought to the school by businesses and organizations, rather than assignments created only for a grade.

“It’s usually businesses bringing projects to us,” Sammons said.

The benefit for businesses is more than simply receiving help on a project. Sammons said CAPS is also about helping develop the kind of workers local employers hope to hire in the future.

Businesses may gain a fresh set of eyes on projects that have been sitting on a to-do list for months, worthwhile projects that never seem to rise above more immediate demands.

“Free problem solving,” Sammons said with a laugh. “Things that maybe they don’t have time for. Businesses probably aren’t going to give us their top thing. We want to start with things that they want to do, but they don’t have the time to do. Let’s see what some high school kids could do with it.”

CAPS Instructor Skye Mader said she has already seen a change in students as they begin to think of themselves less as teenagers completing an assignment and more as people with a useful role in the community.

“We have barely started the GRIZZ CAPS program, and I am already excited by the growth I’m seeing in our associates,” Mader said. “They are beginning to see themselves differently, not just as students completing an assignment, but as young professionals who have something valuable to contribute.”

The program will also give students room to follow their own interests. While many CAPS projects will originate with businesses, students may pursue passion projects that connect to their future goals. A student interested in health care, for example, could use CAPS to make contacts in that field, explore a potential project and perhaps open the door to an internship or job opportunity.

CAPS will include service as well. Sammons said students will be encouraged to identify needs in the community and take the initiative to address them.

“Part of the class is they’ll be doing service projects, too,” she said. “Like seeing something that needs done and going for it.”

For seniors enrolled in CAPS, the work will take the place of the school’s regular senior project. Sammons said the CAPS experience is not a shortcut around that requirement. Instead, it is a larger and more involved version of the same idea, requiring students to develop a project, work with others and demonstrate what they have learned.

As the program grows, Rocky Mountain may eventually create CAPS pathways focused on particular career areas. Sammons said she can envision programs centered on health care, construction and trades, allowing students to sign up for a more specialized experience while building relationships with employers in those fields.

For now, the first group of associates will help establish the foundation. They will meet with businesses, learn how to present themselves professionally and eventually make pitches of their own to potential community partners.

GRIZZ CAPS is actively seeking businesses, organizations and community members willing to partner with students.

“We are actively looking for businesses, organizations and community members who have a project they would be willing to share with our associates,” Mader said. “It might be something that has been sitting on your to-do list because you haven’t had the time or resources to tackle it. Give our students the opportunity to take it on. You may be surprised by what they can accomplish.”

Those interested in partnering with GRIZZ CAPS may contact Mader or Sammons through the school.