“It was a great week! I heard a heartbeat, wrapped a wrist, learned how to fix a flat tire, made a sports broadcasting movie and learned about what I need to do to go to college.”

CAP Summer Academy 2016 marks the 9th annual collaboration between Cabrillo Advancement Program (CAP) and Career Technical Education Partnership (CTEP). The four-day event, co-coordinated by Karen Lemon, Middle School Career Outreach Coordinator for the Santa Cruz County Office of Education, and Liz Dominguez, Director of the CAP Program at Cabrillo, kicked off June 13th with 95 students in attendance.

Students rotate through a four day curriculum that highlights a different career path each day. The instructors are engaged in teaching the students about careers, courses that they can take toward that career goal, and lots of hands on activities. This year’s courses, taught to 7th-12th grade CAP students were Bicycle Technology in the Transportation Industry Sector, Sports Broadcasting in the Art Media and Entertainment Sector, and Medical Technologies from the Health Science and Medical Technology Sector. All curricula is designed to integrate career technical education with English Language Arts, Math, and Science. Additionally students participate in a section developed by CAP and UCSC called College Knowledge to help them navigate their own pathway from middle school through high school and on to college.

CTEP Instructor Steve Hess taught Bicycle Technology, Joel Domhoff taught Video Production and Sports Related Occupations, and Deb Tracy taught Medical Technologies, supported by Juanita Silva, a nursing student at Cabrillo College and Hillary Weaver, a paramedic.

The bicycle industry in Santa Cruz County began with individuals who had a strong passion for the sport, and our county has now blossomed into a hot-spot in the bicycle market with several multi-million dollar businesses. For instance, Giro was founded in 1985 in Scotts Valley and developed an innovative design for safety helmets. Students in this sector learned about basic cycling safety and then were inspired by watching a new video release about a mountain biker in Scotland who rides on a new state of the art titanium frame. Afterwards, the students got down to work. Steve, a teacher who promotes independence, taught the students how to fix a flat tire. Students were sent home with kits so they would be able to repair bikes at home.

CTEP teacher Joel Domhoff, once a local sports broadcaster, shared both his love of sport and video production with the CAP students. Students watched actual sports teams on the fields and then created scripts to be read by “color commentators.” Joel’s curriculum was a fun, hands on activity that greatly supported English Language Development. He had the students cheerfully finding just the right adjective to describe the action on the screen and then lots of practice at reading and delivery—all accomplished in a two hour period! Students recorded each other and, thanks to Joel’s adept editing abilities, the results were spliced together to make for some fun viewing. Click here to view the videos Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4.

 Deb Tracy, instructor of Medical Technologies for CTEP, developed a fun, fast-paced day inside the Nursing Lab at Cabrillo College. Students were shown x-rays to understand the skeletal system better and to learn first hand what it looks like when a bone fractures. They were able to work with the Medical Mannequins and hear lung expiration and the human heartbeat. Finally, they learned how to wrap a sprain or support a break until you can get the injured person to a doctor or hospital. Students marveled at the hundreds of careers in the medical field, and at the end of the lesson, many raised hands to say that they would like to enter this field of study.

College Knowledge, taught by one of the CAP staff, is a well-designed curriculum that speaks to finding your career path, understanding the vocabulary of college and financial aid, and inspiring students to work hard and to believe in themselves and their dreams.

Find out more about the CAP program and the CTEP program.