Juniors and seniors interested in Millcreek’s Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs or Blue Valley’s Center for Advanced Professional Studies (CAPS) are allowed to participate in all programs as long as it collaborates with their school credits. For Millcreek, students are not required to transfer to and Olathe school in order to participate in the program. Anne Dummit, BV’s career counselor, said these programs can give students more opportunities to learn about the careers they’re interested in.
“I would recommend a student narrow down an area they’re interested in before they apply,” she said.

Millcreek
Students who participate in Millcreek’s CTE programs attend school for the first four periods of the day and spend the other half at the CTE program in which they are enrolled. All courses are taught  at the Millcreek Technical Education Center in Olathe, and students are required to provide their own transportation in order to participate.
Each course Millcreek offers is intended to be a two-year program, and provides the student enrolled with three credits each year. Because of that, a student may not begin participating in the program during second semester. After successfully completing the course with a ‘C’ grade or higher their first year, students may return for their senior year.
Kathy Musgrave, Career and Technical Education and Millcreek Center Administrator, said the program gives students a head start so they don’t have to take college level courses in similar subjects.
“You learn a skill — a real world skill that you can utilize in the workforce,” she said.
There are five courses offered to Blue Valley High School students. These courses include Automotive Technology, Automotive Collision, Construction Technology, Culinary Arts and Welding Technology. Each course involves classroom time and hands on experiences. Students interested in learning more about Millcreek programs can find information in page 81 in the 2012-2013 Course Description Guide. A total of 17 high schools in Johnson County participate in Millcreek programs, so enrollment is limited.

CAPS
Like Millcreek’s CTE programs, CAPS courses are only offered to juniors and seniors. CAPS offers participants several courses in each of 4 strands: Bioscience, Business, Technology and Media, Engineering, and Human Services.
The courses are two and a half hours long each day of the school week, and students can choose whether they’d like to take them in the morning or afternoon.
Students participating need to provide their own form of transportation to the CAPS building.
The same courses are offered both semesters, so interested students can begin participating in their second semester. To see which CAPS course you’re most interested in, see page 95 in the Course Description Guide.

To get involved in CAPS or Millcreek, Dummit said it’s important for students to meet with their counselor to verify that the programs will accommodate with their schedule and they have all of the requirements completed to participate. The enrollment process is with Blue Valley High School; however, an application must be approved by the programs.