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Shakopee students, business and county partners showcase mentoring during CAPS spotlight
Summary
As part of National Mentoring Month the Shakopee district highlighted Career and Postsecondary Success (CAPS) partnerships: students described internships, industry tours and project work with local partners including Saint Francis, Bayer and Scott County Library.
Shakopee Public School District highlighted National Mentoring Month at its Jan. 27 school board meeting with students and community partners describing hands‑on internships, industry tours and mentorship projects under the district’s CAPS (Center for Advanced Professional Studies) academies.
District communications and academy champions introduced a roundtable of students, mentors and business partners who summarized in‑district experiences and industry connections. Amy Keaton, senior marketing and communications specialist at Saint Francis (an academy champion for health care/science), described hospital‑based experiences; Josh Fletcher, quality and engineering manager at Bayer Crop Science, described multi‑day site visits and engineering floor shadowing for CAP STEM students.
Students and partners offered concrete examples: internships and client projects that brought students onto industry sites, career expos and showcases that introduced high school students to career pathways, and classroom projects tied to workplace expectations. One student described a semester during which classmates spent two days at Bayer, shadowing manufacturing and engineering teams and learning practical workplace skills such as time management and professional communication. Saint Francis representatives said students had opportunities ranging from job shadowing in clinical areas to supervised experiences with simulation equipment.
Library staff described CAPS interns helping with early‑learning and outreach programs, including the district’s read mobile and marketing of library events. County staff said students’ social‑media and marketing ideas helped county teams broaden outreach to younger residents.
Speakers framed mentorship as reciprocal: students gain workplace exposure and professional skills while partners report fresh perspectives, renewed staff engagement and practical help on events and programs.
Ending: District leaders said mentoring and academy partnerships are widespread across district buildings and that the CAPS spotlight is part of broader work connecting academic pathways with local employers and community partners.
