The Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce announced this morning it would work with Springfield Public Schools and 10 other area districts to launch a career readiness initiative connecting local businesses with students.
At a Feb. 17 chamber board meeting, the organization approved a memorandum of understanding that authorizes an agreement for the chamber to manage the Greater Ozarks Center for Advanced Professional Studies. GO CAPS will focus public education resources on confronting key issues for the business community: talent development and retention, according to a news release.
“By prioritizing workforce development, our board has made it clear that chamber members rightly expect the chamber to lead on this issue,” President and CEO Matt Morrow said in the release. “We are uniquely positioned to coordinate the innovative efforts of today and tomorrow into a cohesive and complementary system of solutions for the workforce challenges that confront our job creators.”
GO CAPS grew out of a months-long process led by SPS Superintendent John Jungmann to review the district’s opportunities for improvement. Jungmann started at SPS in July after serving as superintendent for Liberty Public Schools, where the 11,500-student district ran a
similar program called the Northland Center for Advanced Professional Studies.
According to the chamber release, GO CAPS still is in the planning phase and a full release of information concerning the program is tentatively planned for April. Participating districts are from Springfield, Logan-Rogersville, Nixa, Willard, Republic, Ozark, Strafford, Reeds Spring, Branson, Bolivar and Monett, according to the release.
Other features of the program include:
- immersing high school juniors and seniors in professional development environments through curriculum driven by industry leaders;
- offering students a “test-drive” for their futures by learning from local professionals about existing jobs and jobs likely to be available after graduation; and
- combining hands-on career experiences and classroom learning by partnering with businesses to deliver feedback on real-life projects.
The program will be available to a limited number of students in its initial rollout this fall, according to the release. Initial course offerings are expected to focus on businesses in the health care and manufacturing sectors.
