Opportunities for Youth

WKCD Summer Journey Directory

For four years, What Kids Can Do has compiled (and annually refreshed) a directory of international summer programs that welcome high school students and combine volunteer work, cultural and language immersion. Click here to access this year's guide.

Art Institute of Chicago's First Ever Teen Event

On Saturday, June 8th from 1-4pm, the Art Institute will host its first teen event, planned and hosted by the Teen Council. The event is free, open to all teens, and will include teen art, poetry, dance, fashion, art-making, music, and food. We hope that this event will be an opportunity to visibly and meaningfully activate the Ryan Education Center and the museum with teen ideas, activity, and energy. Please help the Teen Council make the event a success by sharing the invitation with the teens that you know and work with! (This event will take place in the Ryan Education Center; participants may enter through the Museum's Modern Wing.)

Top Tips for Creating a Positive, Rigorous School Culture

Last summer, Mikva's Education Council created a guide for principals and educators with best practices to create a positive and rigorous school culture. Now, we want to hear from Chicago high school students about which solutions YOU think would best improve your school. Click here to take the quick, seven question survey.

FAFSA: The How-To Guide for High School Students (And the Adults Who Help Them)

The Center for New York City Affairs has published a friendly, new guide for high school students who are applying to college and beginning their all-important quest for financial aid: FAFSA: The How-To Guide for High School Students (And the Adults Who Help Them). The guide was designed to be useful to students, families and the many caring adults in New York City public schools and communities who help families navigate the U.S. Department of Education's Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). The guide was made possible with support from the Capital One Foundation, which is committed to empowering students and providing resources for their academic futures. Click here to learn more and download the guide.

Read and Write for the Mockingbird Times

The only publication of its kind, the Mockingbird Times is a monthly newspaper designed and written by youth who have experienced the challenges of foster care and/or homelessness. This forum for self-expression, the award-winning paper is filled with articles, essays, poetry, art and photography. It is produced by a staff of about 15 to 20 individuals, ranging in age from 14-23, each of whom is paid well above the minimum wage for their contribution.

The Mockingbird Times offers a print and online platform for youth to share their unique insights and experiences, while highlighting reform issues that are important to youth who have grown up in the system. With a well-established distribution that covers every state, the publication is a crucial vehicle for public education and advocacy.

The Mockingbird Times is always looking for new writers, artists and photographers from around the country to contribute to the paper. We welcome submissions from young people who have experienced the foster care system and/or homelessness and pay between $20 and $25 per published piece. Click here for more information.

All Stars Project Development School for Youth

The Development School for Youth is an outside-of-school leadership and development training program for young people between the ages of 16 and 21. The students attend weekly workshops led by senior executives from some of Chicago's leading corporations, cultural institutions, hedge funds, hospitals, and law firms. They also participate in workshops including: public speaking, how to interview and resume writing. During the program, students work to develop their professional performance and become more cosmopolitan. Students who successfully graduate from DSY are placed in paid summer internships provided by sponsoring companies. Click the document below for more information. All_Stars_Project_of_Chicago_Youth_Application.doc (1084 KB)

nextSCHOLARS: College Readiness Program

nextSCHOLARS is a unique and comprehensive program that prepares students for the college admission process. This FREE program is open to any junior in the Chicago Area who has a minimum GPA of 2.5 or an ACT score of 18 or higher. Students meet twice a month and attend 10 workshops on essay writing, interviewing skills, social networking and professional dressing for college interviews. For more information, click here or call or e-mail Candace Willis, Program Assistant at (773) 451-3610 or cwillis@thechicagourbanleague.org.

Making the Transition to College

Making the transition from high school to college can be difficult. The good news is that you're starting over fresh and will have a lot more freedom. There will also be some big decisions to make mostly on your own. Because what you do in college will affect you throughout your life, you will want to do your best, especially in your first year of college, to prepare for your future studies, experiences, financial aid options and future career opportunities. Click the icon below for some ideas from After School Matters that will help you plan ahead for college and prepare for your first year in college.
Making_the_Transition_from_High_School_to_College. (37 KB)

College and Career Web Resources from ASM

The staff at After School Matters have compiled an extensive list of helpful links for students considering what their post-secondary steps will be - including financial planning tips, scholarship sources, college prep and planning advice/resources and more. Click the icon below to download the list. Post_Secondary_web_resources[1].doc (55 KB)

DREAM Act Resources

Loyola's Center for Urban Reseach and Learning has gathered several resources that are notable and worth sharing with undocumented students in case you haven't seen them already. Click here to visit their site.

New Futuro

Latino students seeking tips for seeking and applying for college financial aid opportunities can check out New Futuro, a new site filled with articles and videos dedicated to this topic. Click here to access the site.

Global Citizen Year

Global Citizen Year is a premier global bridge year program designed to unleash the potential of the next generation of young Americans as authentic leaders and effective agents of change. Each year, we recruit and train a diverse corps of high-potential graduating seniors and support them through a bridge year of service learning and leadership training in Africa, Latin America and Asia. Through a world-class training and individual apprenticeships, our Fellows develop the skills and perspectives they need to succeed in college, careers, and a global economy. We invest in emerging leaders because we know that young people who have the opportunity to explore the world, and their role within it, approach the future with the passion and purpose they need to make an impact - on our nation and our world. For more information, or to apply, click here and scroll down to the bottom to find the Global Citizen Year link.

CABET Career and College Placement Services

The CABET Group is a non profit organization looking to assist unemployed high school seniors with:

completing their high school education and planning and transitioning into college at the lowest cost to each student
obtaining scholarship funding
obtaining paid and unpaid internship opportunities

For more information, please click below to download the flyer, email myfarris@cabetinc.org or click here for the CABET website.
TheCABETGroup_2011._ISY[1].pdf (260 KB)

Fundraising Tips for Undocumented Students

Dr. Paz Maya Oliverez writes a blog intended to provide guidance, information, and support for undocumented high school and college students in their pursuit of higher education, as well as other first-generation college-goers who desire useful tools for moving successfully through the college pipeline. Her latest post offers tips for how students can build and distribute their own fundraising portfolio. Click here to visit the site.

Youth Ready Chicago

Youth Ready Chicago connects young people, ages 14 - 21, with internships, apprenticeships and jobs within Chicago's public and private business sectors, including Chicago Public Schools, Chicago Park District, After School Matters, Chicago Housing Authority and the Chicago Department of Family and Support Services. Each opportunity offers youth hands-on experience and an opportunity to gain marketable skills, supporting a successful transition from school into the workforce. To be eligible for the program, applicants must meet the following eligibility requirements:

Must be between 14 and 21 at the time of the application
Must live in the City of Chicago with a valid mailing address
Must have a social security number or a number that is legally allowed to replace a social security number for the purposes of employment
Must provide a guardian's signature for applicants under the age of 18 at the time of application.

For more information and to access the online application, click here.

Mentoring-Plus-Jobs

Mentoring-Plus-Jobs is a new effort to train and employ youth in their communities to address challenges they see in their own neighborhoods through a collaborative with the Illinois Violence Prevention Authority, the Neighborhood Recovery Initiative, and community partners. If you'd like...

To create a positive change in the community
To work with other youth and adults in a team setting
To develop valuable leadership skills
To learn communication skills
To learn "real world" job skills
To develop problem-solving skills
And to get paid while influencing peers all in a fun and learning way,

this program is for you. Click below for a list of contacts (if you have questions) and to download an application for this program.
MentorJobsPlusContacts.docx (18 KB)
Mentors-Plus-Jobs_Application.docx (34 KB)

Student Support and Mentoring

Every Future is a non-profit organization that targets high-performing low-income students who aspire to go to college. EF works with partner schools to choose 10 to 15 juniors, provide them with a free high quality ACT prep, and then pairs students with professional mentors who work one-on-one with students to choose schools, write college essays, and complete the scholarship/financial aid process. Through this program, EF increases ACT scores, helps students go to more competitive colleges, and helps support the heavy work load of college counselors. EF is currently looking for two additional schools to begin working with this winter. To learn more, contact Jordan Litwin at jordanmlitwin@gmail.com.

Scholarship Directories for Undocumented Students

The following websites will help you and your students identify scholarships that may not consider citizenship status as a requirement for eligibility:
MALDEF: National list of scholarships that may not inquire about immigration status. Has not been updated recently but provides a good starting point.
Latino College Dollars: Scholarship search engine for Latino students that includes whether citizenship status is a criteria or not
Get Ready For College: The MN Office of Higher Education has a good web page for undocumented students along with a scholarship directory
FinAid.org: Great financial aid resource. Has a comprehensive page for undocumented students.
College Board: Has web page on how to advise undocumented students.