Another year at Andover CAPS has come and gone and believe me, you will be missed. What you accomplished as a young professional at CAPS filled me with pride and excitement on a daily basis. You got out of the program what you put into it and I hope you continue to apply that lesson throughout your life. As you go to new places and grow personally and professionally please know that all of us here at CAPS will continue to champion you, help you and guide you should you ever need it. It has truly been my privilege to serve as your Director and I thank you for believing in yourself and us.

Continue to do good things in this world and stay in touch!

Sincerely,

Brian Gregoire

P.S. Two windmills are standing on a wind farm. One asks, ‘What’s your favorite kind of Music?

The other replies, ‘I’m a big metal fan.

Another semester in the books! A huge thank you to all of our business partners, supportive parents and hard working students! It was amazing to see so many of you come support our students at their CAPStone showcase event. We look forward to next year eager to dive back into work, ready to tackle the new challenges given to us! Please reach out if you have a project you think we can tackle for you - scriptes@usd385.org.

Seth Scripter, Instructor

And that's a wrap! Whew!!! What a semester-- it flew by. Our medical students did excellent work. The last few weeks of CAPS is all about CAPStone, but we did college prep week before that. Most students need help understanding the importance of picking programs from an accredited source. Nursing has its accreditations, as do medical programs, and the same goes for physical therapy programs and the rest of the medical subspecialties. Colleges are not created equal, nor are programs, so if you have questions, feel free to contact either of us.

We also went through the interview process, as this is an essential factor when a school picks its students. One goal is to try to get to know the prospective student in as little time as possible by asking some really personal questions. Interviews are typically difficult for most people, and college students are the same. The best way to combat that difficulty is to practice, review questions, and sit in front of a mock panel. We encourage your student to follow up with us any time, even after graduating high school.

CAPStone went really well, and we had a lot of great topics that the students chose to speak on. A few of the topics that seemed to draw a lot of attention were Burns, presented by Phoenix Grantham, DNA Treatment of Medical Issues by Breckynn Pugh, and Concussions and the NFL by Kade Malcolm, to name a few. All of our students did a fantastic job and worked hard. We were happy to host your families and friends.

We are already working hard for next semester; we are currently building the Anatomage Treasure Hunts; these are designed to help the students understand the physiology of the body and also to help them locate where specific anatomical structures are. Unfolding Case Studies is an additional new teaching tool we will incorporate next semester. Students will have a case unfolding the more they work on it. We will do Fun Fridays, where they will be in the lab doing and practicing skills taught throughout the semester.

This past year has been fun; we are so blessed to be able to spend so much time with these students. We said goodbye to our two 4s that have been with us since the beginning. Both of the 4s were out doing more than they were here at CAPS, which is our goal for those students who make it that far. Chase Goertzen and Katherine Wilson have a bright future ahead of them, and we are honored to be a small part of their journey. Saying "See ya later" is never easy; we enjoy having all our students and truly miss them when they are gone.

We hope you and your family have a great, relaxing, and safe summer. We will see our new group and some old faces in August.

As always, thank you for sharing your student with us; if you have any questions or comments, feel free to reach out to us via email:

Ashley Ebert, Medical Instructor - eberta@usd385.org

Ashley Hurley, Medical Instructor - hurleya@usd385.org

The CAPS Business & Create strand young professionals had a very productive spring semester. We had 6 young professionals placed on internships with local businesses, 9 client projects, and a handful of great guest speakers that covered topics ranging from entrepreneurship to negotiation strategy. Our network of local businesses and professionals continues to grow, and it is through the networking efforts of our students that we will have even more opportunities to offer next year's class. I am truly grateful for the wonderful juniors and seniors we had this year, and the positive energy and work ethic they brought to Andover CAPS. Thank you to everyone who helped create opportunities for our students to go on site visits, bring in guest speakers, submit a client project proposal, or simply meet with our young professionals to offer them guidance through an informal mentorship. It was a wonderful spring semester and I hope everyone has an amazing summer break!

Steven Huskey, Instructor