Thank you to everyone who joined us at Saturday’s banquet to commemorate the conclusion of another incredible year of the IIT Boeing Scholars Academy!

At this culminating event, we celebrated our Scholars’ many successes and featured student presentations of Leadership Grant Projects undertaken during the 2012-13 program. Attendees included 70 Scholars and 120 family members, as well as several program alumni (current college freshmen), Project Mentors and other volunteers, and representatives of Illinois Institute of Technology and the Boeing Company. Boeing’s Grant Crampton (Functional Integration Manager, Engineering, Operations, and Technology) and IIT’s President John L. Anderson both shared remarks as part of the event.

Credit to David Schalliol for all of the beautiful photographs you see below! Find more on our Facebook page. Videos of student presentations are coming soon.

At the beginning of the evening, Jerry Doyle (IIT’s Vice Provost for Student Access, Success, and Diversity Initiatives) set the stage by describing why programs like this are so essential to inspiring future leaders and how — through sponsoring them — partners like the Boeing Company can change the course of young people’s lives.

Marya Spont (Program Director of the IIT Boeing Scholars Academy) summarized this year’s program “by the numbers.” The 2012-13 cohort comprised 106 Scholars from 52 area high schools, who came together last summer for 140 hours of programming. Since then, the program has had 460 Scholar attendances across 40+ academic-year events — not including Scholars’ numerous meetings with staff, with their Leadership Grant Project groups, or the banquet! Program staff wrote recommendations for more than 50 students, including several letters for some students. A full 100% of last year’s seniors graduated from high school, with 98% going straight to a four-year school and 2% entering a two-year institution on their way to a 4-year institution. The numbers for this year’s seniors are coming soon!

The highlight of the evening was Scholars’ presentations of their Leadership Grant Projects (LGPs), through which they created opportunities in their communities over the course of the year with help from dedicated Project Mentor volunteers. This year, 56 Scholars completed the following 11 LGPs, impacting countless individuals and communities across Chicagoland! Program Coordinator Connie Ma facilitated their presentations.

• Enviroprint: Ideas Into Action — Inspiring youth to make positive imprints on their environment through childhood and beyond. Scholars: Alex, Amy, Fiona, Queena, Letoria, Catherine, Amanda. Mentors: Alex Bopp, Dr. Bhoopesh Mishra.

• Arrow Around — Helping students increase sensitivity to and awareness of local and worldwide environmental issues. Scholars: Shakira, Saharai, Anita, Florencio, Sarina, Samantha. Mentors: Nabeel Ebeid, Nate Nichols.
  

  SPICE

• Operation: Contain the Rain — Enabling and inspiring water conservation by improving the aquaponics system at the Whitney Young High School greenhouse. Scholars: Charles, Antonio, Karol. Mentors: Amanda Hickman, Neil Schweitzer.

• Encouraging Healthy Lifestyles & Communities — Helping children adopt healthy lifestyles and influence their community. Scholars: Tredarin, Jacquelin, Paola, Francisco, Odalys, Lesley, Amy, Francesca. Mentors: Julia Gonzalez, Adam Schulman.
  

  Encouraging Healthy Lifestyles & Communities

• Supporting People In Cooking Education (SPICE) – Encouraging healthier eating habits for future generations. Scholars: Cyrenthia, Tyre, Crystal, Minxian, Stephany, Minhua, Linda. Mentor: Toby Tieger.

• Express – Spreading awareness about resources for LGBTQ youth in Chicago and helping them find emotional support. Scholars: Serena, Susan, Sergio. Mentor: Thomas Valenti.
  

  Project LEAD

• Changing Places That Are Home — Educating youth about how to help homeless animals. Scholars: Korbin, Cierra. Mentors: Jerry Meng, Wa Yuan.

• Rising Over Obstacles Through STEM (ROOTS) – Creating fun, hands-on, after school engineering activities for middle schoolers to encourage interest in STEM fields. Scholars: Sebastian, Layalee, Katherine, Andrew, Matthew, Tori, William, Samuela, Louis, Juliana, Nick, Akshara. Mentors: Grant Crampton, Wa Yuan.
  

  Project Mentor Wa gives ROOTS a pep talk before their presentation.

• We Want A Voice — Getting teens involved in decisions about school policy. Scholar: Jasmine. Mentor: Sayiddah McCree.

• Project LEAD (Learning Engineering by Applying DIY) — Generating interest in STEM through DIY (Do It Yourself) projects. Scholars: Maritza, Daniel, John. Mentors: Sheena Enriquez, Louis Fernandez.

• Target Future — Designing innovative solutions to deter gun violence and build prosperous communities. Scholars: Adam, Karl, Josh, Brian. Mentor: Marya Spont.

In addition to presenting the work they accomplished over the course of the year, groups shared reflections on the process of developing and implementing these projects, such as how they responded to unanticipated roadblocks. Sage “lessons learned” included “communication is key,” “Google docs is a lifesaver,” and “don’t yell at the kids.”

After each presentation, Scholars recognized their Project Mentors and provided them with a token of appreciation. We surprised IIT’s Professor Bob Anderson (Director of Technology Transfer and Intellectual Property; Adjunct Professor in Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering and Stuart School of Business) with an “Honorary Project Mentor” award for his incredible service to the program. For the last two years, Professor Anderson has not only led project management and presentation skills workshops for students developing Leadership Grant Projects, he has also volunteered countless hours of his time to counseling individual groups of students as they prepared their presentations for the banquet. We are all better public speakers because of him!

One especially moving part of the evening was when two program alumni — current college freshman — spoke about how their experience in the program has impacted them longer-term and imparted words of advice to this year’s Scholars. Diana Lozano, now a freshman in Sociology and Comparative Human Development at the University of Chicago, shared how the program continues to impact her each day, even though she ultimately decided not to enter a STEM field: “I really enjoyed the process of thinking through the big problems presented to us and working together with my cohort to find a feasible solution. I may never be an engineer, but I have taken this mentality and try my best to think and work through all obstacles placed before me while also remembering that I’m not alone….Every problem can be solved, no matter how big it is.” Sandra Tobias, now a freshman in Biomedical Engineering at IIT (and current intern with the IIT Boeing Scholars Academy), spoke to how the program allowed her to realize that “there is more to life than just music, sports, T.V., and getting a good grade to please somebody.” She advised Scholars not to fear an education, but rather to take advantage of opportunities to learn new things, seek connections between your education and the real world, and not let the opinions of others or your own doubts get in the way. As illustration of the importance of staying focused on academics, Sandra shared, proudly yet bashfully, that this mentality helped her get a 4.0 in her first semester of college!

Then a small group of current Scholars came to the stage to thank the Boeing Company, on behalf of other Scholars and the program, and to provide Grant Crampton with a token of appreciation for Boeing’s contributions. Jess explained how the program helped transform her “little, eentsy glimmer of an interest in STEM” into a passion and career path. Lesley stressed how the program showed her that she could make an impact as a teenager, not only helping her realize that she could change the world around her but also connecting her with peers who had a similar drive. Javier described “a Javier before Boeing Scholars and Javier after Boeing Scholars,” emphasizing the connections to teens and mentors from different backgrounds and the rigorous educational activities as key to him developing his own personal and academic identity. Crystal echoed the value of learning in a diverse setting, sharing how the program helped her develop friendships with “people I’d never thought I would even speak to” and “has broken barriers that are still up for many other people today.” These Scholars then welcomed Mr. Crampton to the stage, who accepted their gift on behalf of the Boeing Company, read a moving letter to the Scholars from Dr. John Tracy (Chief Technology Officer and Senior Vice President for Engineering, Operations, and Technology, who was unable to attend the banquet himself), and shared his own accolades, words of wisdom, and trademark enthusiasm for fostering leadership in young people. Mr. Crampton also gave Scholars a new word through which to understand themselves: fearless!

IIT’s President John Anderson did us the honor of concluding the event by sharing his reflections and remarks. President Anderson applauded the students on their many accomplishments and encouraged them to think about their careers in broader terms than their college major. He used himself as an example of this, saying that he knew when he was 17 that he wanted to study chemical engineering, but not that he would become a university president! He closed by thanking students’ families for raising such outstanding and mature young Scholars.

Throughout the evening, when formal presentations were not taking place, guests had the opportunity to catch up with old friends and make new ones. Scholars and their families mingled with other guests to swap stories, pose for pictures, and even make origami birds!

 

At the heart of the IIT Boeing Scholars Academy is a deep commitment to community-building across our diverse student body. Core to our identity as a program is the idea of a learning community, in which no one learns alone. To help students carry this community and mentality forward with them — wherever their path may lead — we put a picture of all Scholars on the certificate recognizing their official completion of the program, which they each received before leaving the banquet. Scholars, when you’re in college or even a decade from now, we hope you look back and remember those many fellow Scholars who have informed your learning and inspired you over the course of the past two years! It has been such an incredible journey.

In closing this post and in concluding the program year, I wish to say to our Scholars that — whether you are returning or graduating — I hope you know that you bring joy and meaning to my life. I feel so lucky and proud to know each and every one of you, and can’t wait to witness what you do in the future!

 

Marya Spont
Program Director

Last Saturday, almost 50 people of various ages and backgrounds met at IIT for a “Youth Against Gun Violence” design thinking workshop.

The event was organized by Target Future, a group of four IIT Boeing Scholars — Adam (Lane Tech), Brian (Northside), Josh (Whitney Young), and Karl (Riverside Brookfield) — as part of their Leadership Grant Project.* Alarmed by the rate of homicides in the city and armed with the belief that youth have valuable perspective and ideas on these issues, Target Future reached out to Professor Jeremy Alexis and doctoral student Amanda Geppert, both of IIT’s Institute of Design, to provide teens with this opportunity to develop innovative solutions to these issues.

High school students from around Chicagoland were invited to apply to attend the workshop, and in the end 24 students from 18 different high schools were selected. Public and private schools in the city and suburbs were represented at the summit: Aqsa, Carmel Catholic, Chicago High School for the Arts, Eisenhower, Fenger, Gary Comer, Global Citizenship Experience, Gwendolyn Brooks, King, Lane Tech, Lindblom, Naperville North, Northside, Perspectives-Leadership, Perspectives-Technology, Riverside Brookfield, Wendell Phillips, and Whitney Young.

At the workshop, Professor Alexis and Ms. Geppert guided the teens through the “design thinking” process utilized by professional engineers to brainstorm, develop, prototype, and propose visionary solutions to address the gun violence problem. Working in small groups over the course of three hours, students went through the process of identifying and building “profiles” for key stakeholders, by mapping out what those stakeholders might say, do, think, and feel about the issues at hand. Students looked for common themes, contradictions and conflicts, and patterns, and wrote down what they found to be most polarizing, surprising, or new in those “empathy maps.” From there, students sought to understand these “users” in relation to their needs and contexts, and brainstormed “how might we…?” statements to re-frame the problem in terms of those needs and potential solutions. Finally, students were challenged to come up with ideas of specific things that could be done to help address these needs and solve these problems. Within this framework, different groups of students took different approaches, with some identifying a set of categories and characteristics to be considered and with others drilling down to the specifics of one or two ideas.

At the conclusion of the event, students presented their work to the following community leaders, who were happy to listen to, discuss, and provide feedback on the teens’ ideas:

• Pat Dowell, Alderman, 3rd Ward
• Beth Ford, Deputy Director, Bureau of Patrol, Chicago Police Department
• Anterio Jackson, Education Program Coordinator, Chicago Urban League
• Shango Johnson, CeaseFire Illinois
• Melinda Kelly, Executive Director, Chatham Business Association
• Diane Latiker, Founder and President, Kids Off the Block
• Benneth “Benny” Lee, Community Liaison and Reentry Specialist, TASC; Northeastern Illinois University, Carruthers Center for Inner City Studies
• Samia Malik, Project Manager, Chatham Business Association
• Shauna Martin, Founder & Director, The Society of Lights, Inc.
• Monica Moss, Trinity Church
• Brian Thompson, Assistant Executive Director, PSI Family Services Foster Care and Mental Health; Founder, B-Fit, B New, 4 Life
• Mae Cheri Whiteside, Principal, Cheri K. Lewis Engineers, LLC
• Mandel Williams, Executive Director, Knights of Omega Mentoring

Special thanks to IIT’s Jeanne Arens (Associate Vice President, External Affairs), Jerry Doyle (Vice Provost, Student Access, Success, and Diversity Initiatives), Leroy Kennedy (Vice President, Community Affairs and Outreach), and Lisa Montgomery (Director, Student Center for Diversity and Inclusion) for reaching out on Target Future’s behalf to get such an amazing group of people in the room.

A summary of students’ ideas from Saturday, as compiled by the members of Target Future, can be found below. If you are interested in continuing the conversation from Saturday, please join our online discussion forum (click on the link, and then click “Join Group”)! Photos from the summit are available here and here. An album with photos of EVERY IDEA recorded on the whiteboards is available here. Please note that these opinions and ideas are those of participating students, and do not necessarily reflect those of the program or university.

One group of students focused on developing solutions that could help build more self-sufficient communities, with the idea that such approaches could provide a platform for a community to expand economically and socially. This group discussed how quickly and easily neighborhoods decay when money doesn’t circulate through them and when few economic incentives are available. By having members of a community take on a few simple tasks, a neighborhood could serve as a provider for employment and services. This could, in turn, build trust among neighbors, which could provide for lasting relationships and a more prosperous community.

One way to connect a community, as well as provide jobs and services, would be to establish a community-based shuttle bus or carpooling system. This could provide low-cost door-to-door transportation for riders and allow for safe passage through neighborhoods threatening by rivaling gangs. Beyond providing safe, economical transportation, a shuttle bus system could provide employment for community residents and might help attendance, retention, and graduation rates among local high school students. Students cited, as a potential resource, a German company that was created a decade ago to provide prospective carpoolers with services to help them organize themselves; more recently, this company has begun outreach in the US.

This group also discussed creating a community postal service. Instead of people seeking employment from newspapers (like delivering papers to other neighborhoods) or having large private companies deliver packages in their own neighborhoods, a community mail service could provide employment and services for members within their own neighborhoods, where it is helpful that they know the streets.

Students proposed establishing more community gardens, arguing that they could reduce the number of existing vacant lots, as well as push for vacant buildings to be destroyed to create space for more gardens (and thus prevent abandoned establishments from being used for illegal purposes). Besides bringing together willing members of a neighborhood to collaborate on a project, residents could learn important skills in gardening, managing projects and people, and running a business. The garden could be organized to offer economic incentives to community garden contributors. The fresh produce could be used for home cooking or sold at a neighborhood Farmer’s Market. By involving and fostering relationships with children, community garden programs could help prevent potential gangs and gang tensions from forming from a young age. This group discussed the idea of offering people who are on parole or other people with a criminal record the opportunity to participate in building the community gardens. Their service could help transform the vacant lots, teach skills in horticulture and gardening, and re-connect them to the community.

These students concluded that, to create a self-sufficient community, incentives must be offered so that all residents will have something at stake. Economic incentives could contribute to monetary circulation throughout a community. By offering jobs and safe transportation, crime could be hindered and residents could help break the current trends in gang membership and other hostilities.

Another group brainstormed solutions to address three main sub-issues related to gun violence among youth: (1) how the media plays a part in crime and violence, (2) pre-judgment that stems from a lack of communication with one another, balanced with people’s need to feel like they belong, and (3) the ease at which guns, drugs, and ammunition is accessible.

For the first issue – how the media plays a part in crime and violence – students advocated for more equitable media coverage of most or all deaths, both online and through news. Rather than focusing on one person, media should focus on the broader number of victims and recognize them all individually. Regardless of neighborhood, a life is a life and deserves to be commemorated. There should be a memorial for every death.

Considering that people need to feel like they belong, students proposed offering more after school activities for youth and job placement for teens, so that young people can develop more positive peer groups as well as mentors. Communities could create art shows where young musicians and graffiti artists could sell their goods and services for money to help sustain a positive lifestyle. Governments could create incentives (like money, awards, or opportunities) for whoever does the most good in the community. For any youth programs, it would be important to address the time at which children come home from school or work. One suggestion was for schools and local businesses to work together to create opportunities for students to work during the school day (co-op) or on weekends, rather than when it is dark outside.

Connecting these ideas, students suggested community therapy sessions or conferences, where residents can exchange stories on their life, experiences, and interests. Doing so could combat prejudgment, build stronger relationships across a community, and highlight the importance of respecting the lives of others.

Addressing the ease at which guns, drugs, and ammunition is accessible, students argued for conducting background checks when people buy ammunition for guns, not just guns, and for stronger police checks on vehicles of interest traveling into the state.

A third group of students identified fear, survival, money, and protection as major themes. They focused on the question — How do we prevent neighborhoods from turning into crime ridden areas, or reduce gun/gang violence in areas that already have it? – and spent their day developing an idea for a teen program that would help address this set of issues.

Their idea was to create a “support group” called Createens, offering an AA-meeting style forum for gang-involved teens (under age 18; specific gang affiliation must not be announced), which would meet twice a week from 4-6pm. The most important part of this program would be outings to museums, theaters , movies, art exhibitions, and sports games, all of which could provide the teens with an opportunity to experience culture outside of what they see every day. It could also give them an incentive to stay in the Createens group – a more positive peer environment where they could share their thoughts and feelings – and an incentive to get off the path they are on.

In addition to these outings, Createens would offer lessons in the arts – such as dance, multimedia art, music, writing, and drama – which would give these students an opportunity to explore themselves and practice skills without judgment from others. Once a year, they would have an arts show for the community for students to display their work. The students would be able to sell their work, and the event would bring the community together around a central project. The outings and arts activities could happen on Saturdays from 8am-5pm.

Createens chapters could be run out of park district facilities located near colleges and/or schools, maybe with some funding for those organizations, since the program would serve the neighborhood’s greater good. The program could be run by teachers and counselors from those schools, as well as by former “gang veterans” who could show the teens what life after gangs could be like. The park could utilize the teen group by paying them to do tasks like cutting grass and tending to plants; this would somewhat help out the teens’ economic situation. The group could also organize recreational sports tournaments for others in the community.

The main idea behind an approach like Createens would be to bring a community together while also influencing the younger generation to not follow gangs and to realize a world outside what they live in now.

A fourth group proposed creating an online forum or other website format to offer a monthly reflection on the lives of recent victims, including their dreams and aspirations, as well as interviews with their friends and family. Beyond memorializing lives lost, the purpose of this would be to humanize the rising death tolls, which otherwise are often reflected in numbers alone.

Students also suggested making parent involvement a requirement for enrollment in school. If parents didn’t attend monthly meetings, their child wouldn’t be able to stay enrolled in that school or participate in school-based extra-curriculars like clubs or sports.

They also suggested developing a “corporate welfare” system, having the government incentivize opening new food markets in food deserts, with programs to put the youth to work in those markets and to stimulate the local economy. Students brainstormed ways to get youth under 16 involved with these activities, to keep them off the streets.

While it was inspiring to see so many students from so many communities gather together to discuss how to make our world a better place, it was almost more impressive to see how very many adults believed it was important to pay attention to youth voice and ideas, and to share the wisdom of their own experience. I am excited to participate in the conversation as it continues.

Please join us online to share your feedback and ideas, as well as other opportunities to get involved in addressing the crucial problem of gun violence in Chicago.

 

Marya Spont
Program Director

 

 

 

 

 

*During the summer, IIT Boeing Scholars collaborate in teams to propose Leadership Grant Projects (LGPs) of their own design to be implemented over the course of the next 10 months (July-April), with the help of Project Mentors. A capstone of sorts, LGPs empower students to promote positive change and create opportunities in their communities.

This winter and spring, our IIT Boeing Scholars have been hard at work at their Leadership Grant Projects, tackling such diverse problems as healthy eating, homeless animals, the importance of exercise, and many more! At the end of April, Scholars will present on their accomplishments in front of fellow Scholars, families, and friends at our annual banquet. For a sneak peek, take a look at these pictures and see what some of our excellent Scholars have been doing with the help of their Project Mentors!

We are super, duper impressed by what our Scholars have been able to achieve so far this year through determination, teamwork, and many hours of effort. Again, kudos to our faithful Project Mentors, adult volunteers who have been working with these students since August. We can’t wait to see the final presentations in April!

 

Connie Ma
Program Coordinator

Led by four IIT Boeing Scholars, Target Future (a Leadership Grant Project group*) is an initiative to deter gun violence by providing high school students with an opportunity to help develop innovative solutions.

All high school students are invited to apply by 11pm on Thursday, April 4, to participate in Target Future’s “Youth Against Gun Violence” design thinking workshop on Saturday, April 6, 10am-3pm, at IIT! Please share information about this opportunity with friends and classmates.

At the “Youth Against Gun Violence” summit, attending students will be guided through the “design thinking” process utilized by professional engineers to brainstorm, develop, prototype, and propose visionary solutions to address Chicago’s gun violence problem (led by Professor Jeremy Alexis in IIT’s Institute of Design). At the conclusion of the workshop, students will have the opportunity to present their ideas to professionals and officials who are in a position to take action on these issues. You can be part of the solution!

What do architects do? What do architecture students study and build? How do architects solve problems? Thanks to IIT College of Architecture students involved with the groups American Institute of Architecture Students, Arquitectos, iitExposure, and Freedom by Design,  IIT Boeing Scholars recently had the opportunity to learn all this and more!

 

Please join me in expressing a huge THANK YOU to the many amazing IIT architecture students who came together to make this opportunity possible! Throughout the months we spent collaborating to create this event, I was consistently (and extremely) impressed by the dedication these students showed not only to their future profession but also to enabling access to that profession for Chicago’s youth. We appreciate your hard work and look forward to future partnerships!

 

Marya Spont
Program Director

 

 

 

Thank you to everyone who submitted an application to the IIT Boeing Scholars Academy for the 2013-15 program. Over the past two weeks, our selection committee spent a considerable amount of time reviewing the entire cohort of applicants, which included more than 300 students from 120 Chicago-area high schools. The caliber of applicants significantly exceeded what were already high expectations. We had many difficult decisions to make, since—in the end—we will only be able to offer this opportunity to 100 total students.

By now, every applicant should have received an email from us, notifying them of whether they are being invited as a finalist to interview for a position in the program. If a student has applied yet not received such an email from us, and if it is not in their “Spam” folder, they should contact Marya Spont, Program Director, at 312.567.5193 or spont@iit.edu, or Connie Ma, Program Coordinator, at yma24@iit.edu or 312.567.3005, as soon as possible.

Students still in search of a summer learning opportunity for this year may wish to review summer.iit.edu and other universities’ websites, as well as online databases such as One Summer Chicago, the Illinois Association of College Admission Counseling’s Summer Programs Directory, and the Institute for Broadening Participation’s STEM Program Search.

More than 650 people came together at the Northwestern University law school on Saturday for this year’s sold-out TEDxWindyCity event, which featured an all-star line-up of a couple dozen dynamic and paradigm-shifting innovators, researchers, artists, and others, representing the brightest minds in Chicago. It’s not inconsequential that there were only two high school students as presenters — our very own IIT Boeing Scholars Katie Gohres and Andrew Kelo, both seniors at Walter Payton College Prep!

Katie and Andrew were given 18 minutes to speak about their work co-founding ROOTS (Rising Over Obstacles Through STEM), an after school club run completely by high school students that exposes middle schoolers to engineering fields through fun, hands-on projects.

In summer 2011, while at the IIT Boeing Scholars Academy, Katie and Andrew led a team of fellow Scholars in creating ROOTS as a Leadership Grant Project (LGP). A capstone of sorts, LGPs require Scholars to collaborate in teams to identify and address a problem in their community, over the course of the academic year. As a group, ROOTS focused on the fact that most young adults don’t want to go into STEM fields — not because they don’t enjoy math and science, but because of a lack of experience and knowledge of opportunities. From that spark of inspiration, ROOTS took action. Now in their second year of programming, the ROOTS after school program is established in four middle schools.

Throughout their presentation at TEDx, Katie and Andrew emphasized the power of the individual, and what individuals — regardless of their backgrounds or levels of education — can do to help combat the dynamic and pressing problems facing our contemporary world. They also stressed the importance of collaboration to addressing these projects, and spoke movingly about a prototyping lesson they teach to help youth develop confidence in their ideas as well as communication and team skills.

 

Not only are such skills essential to solving today’s most challenging problems, they are also skills that Katie, Andrew, and other ROOTS members developed themselves by implementing the ROOTS program. After all, from its founding in 2011 to the present, ROOTS has engaged 18 teens from 14 different Chicago-area high schools in providing a 14-week ROOTS curriculum to more than 80 kids at 4 different elementary schools!—

• Katie Gohres, Walter Payton (CPS)
  
• Andrew Kelo, Walter Payton (CPS)
  
• Sebastian Allen, Carmel Catholic
• Jovana Andrejevic, Libertyville
• Nina Andrejevic, Libertyville
• Emily Bish, Whitney M. Young (CPS)
• Karlia Brown, Whitney M. Young (CPS)
• Layalee Elzahdan, AQSA
• Matthew Kolasny, Jones (CPS)
• Payal Kumar, Buffalo Grove
• Tori Lewandowski, Francis W. Parker
• Samuela Nematchoua, Chicago High School for the Arts (CPS)
• Louis Padilla, Jones (CPS)
• Juliana Perez, Von Steuben (CPS)
• Nick Perez, Prosser (CPS)
• Rocio Santana, Benito Juarez (CPS)
• Eritomiwa Sobayo, Hales Franciscan
• Akshara Sreedhar, Waubonsie Valley

Together, these outstanding young adults say: “Inspiring and empowering our future leaders is necessary to creating a better future for everyone, and that is why this is an idea worth spreading.” Find more information about Katie and Andrew’s talk on the TEDxWindyCity website — where a video of their presentation will soon be posted! — and photos from the event on the TEDxWindyCity Facebook page.

On a more personal note, I am so proud of both Katie and Andrew for so very many reasons. Outside of their work with ROOTS, they are truly amazing individuals with brilliant minds, humble souls, fantastic senses of humor and adventure, and an immense generosity in their manners. I spent most of their talk on Saturday in awe of how much they have grown since I met them two years ago, when I interviewed them for admission to the IIT Boeing Scholars Academy. I know that they are going to make a huge impact on the world throughout their lifetime, not only through creating programs like ROOTS but also through the little things they do each day to help people see how individual actions have great worth and can help change the world.

In closing, and as a former Program Instructor, Tabitha Ponte, told the IIT Boeing Scholars on Facebook this weekend: “I am STUNNED every day of the level of leadership and drive I see coming out of the Scholars. Killing it, you all!! ♥ ♥” I couldn’t have said it better myself.

 

Marya Spont
Program Director

This Tuesday, February 12, 38 IIT Boeing Scholars fanned out across the city of Chicago to visit eleven different companies, non-profit organizations, firms, and universities, both large and small. They learned about engineering, math and science education, immigration reform, environmental policy, food safety, architecture, and much more straight from the professionals who worked in those fields every day. They heard about possible career paths to some of these jobs as well as majors and degrees to explore in college. One look at the pictures below, and you’ll know why this is not only an exciting day for our Scholars but also one of our favorite programming events to put together!

Our most sincere thanks go out to the eleven amazing sites who generously gave their time, energy, and advice to our Scholars: Cabrera Capital Markets, LLC, Center for Elementary Mathematics and Science Education at the University of Chicago, Forefront Structural Engineers, Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, Institute for Food Safety and Health at IIT*, Landon Bone Baker Architects*, Little Village Environmental Justice Organization*, Parsons Brinckerhoff, Transco Products Inc.*, RDCEP at the University of Chicago*, and UOP Honeywell. Starred organizations have hosted two years in a row!

Here are a few pictures of our Scholars in action:

 

 

 

 

Again, a very hearty thanks to all our hosts! Without your generous contributions of time, energy, and expertise, this day would not have been possible! If your company is interested in hosting IIT Boeing Scholars for a future job shadow opportunity, please feel free to contact me at yma24@iit.edu.

 

Connie Ma
Program Coordinator

Current high school sophomores should apply by Thursday, February 14, to participate in our free, two-year academic enrichment program, which offers

• four weeks of intensive, project-based STEM programming at IIT each summer (in summer 2013, weekdays Monday, July 1-Friday, July 26, 9am-4pm)
• workshops, field trips, and career exploration events during the school year
• guidance and support in developing leadership projects (junior year only)
• college advising and application assistance (senior year only)

for 100 Chicago-area teens per year.

* * *

[Update] In response to FAQs: February 14 is a “received-by” date, meaning that your application materials must be in our office by 6pm on February 14 or, if submitted online, by 11:59pm on February 14. It is most important that we receive your application form and essay on February 14. If your recommendation forms and transcript arrive on the 15th or 18th, we will still accept them.

* * *

 

Eligibility

Applicants to the IIT Boeing Scholars Academy should:

• be current sophomores (class of 2015) at Chicago-area high schools
• have demonstrated strong performance (As and Bs) in a college prep curriculum
• be on track to take pre-calculus or higher by senior year

First-generation college students, women, and students from populations underrepresented in STEM fields are especially encouraged to apply.

 

How to Apply

A complete application to the program includes:

• The program application form and required essay — apply online (preferred)or apply on paper (download and print)
• One official copy of the high school transcript, including fall 2012 grades
• Recommendation Form A (Teacher)
• Recommendation Form B (Adult of applicant’s choice [not a relative])  

Prospective Scholars should plan ahead and obtain the transcript and recommendation forms (each in a signed and sealed envelope) prior to the deadline. These materials should be mailed or delivered—in ONE packet—to:

IIT Boeing Scholars Academy
c/o Illinois Institute of Technology
10 W 33rd St
Perlstein Hall 101
Chicago, Illinois 60616

Students selected as finalists will be invited to attend an interview at IIT’s Main Campus.

Juniors in the 2012-13 cohort of IIT Boeing Scholars will be asked to complete a shorter re-application form.

 

Learn More

The dates for our program-sponsored information sessions have now passed. Interested students are strongly encouraged to learn more about who we are and what we do by visiting the tabs at the top of this page. With additional questions, please contact us directly.

Teachers, Counselors, and Organizational Leaders: To invite a representative of the program to come speak to your students, contact Tanya Cabrera, IIT’s Associate Director for Minority Outreach, at tcabrera@iit.edu, 312.567.6943 (office), or 312.919.9411 (cell). Please feel free to share our application packet and brochure with your students.

 

Questions?

• Contact Marya Spont, Program Director, at spont@iit.edu or 312.567.5193, or Connie Ma, Program Coordinator, at yma24@iit.edu or 312.567.3005. 
• En español: Tanya Cabrera, tcabrera@iit.edu, 312.567.6943, 312.919.9411.
• W języku polskim: Emilia Radkiewicz, radkiewicz@iit.edu , 312.567.7984.
• 中文： Connie Ma, yma24@iit.edu, 312.567.3005.

We look forward to reading your application and to the possibility of welcoming you to the IIT Boeing Scholars Academy!

[This information was originally posted on 12/4/12.]

IIT Boeing Scholars Katherine (Katie) Gohres and Andrew Kelo will present about their Leadership Grant Project* at the upcoming TEDxWindyCity Conference!

In summer 2011, Katie and Andrew led a team of fellow Scholars in creating ROOTS (Rising Over Obstacles Through STEM), an after school club run completely by high school students that exposes middle schoolers to engineering fields through fun, hands-on projects. Now in their second year of programming, ROOTS is established in four schools and growing fast. Of their work on ROOTS, these outstanding co-founders say: “Inspiring and empowering our future leaders is necessary to creating a better future for everyone, and that is why this is an idea worth spreading.” Read more online here.

Please join us in celebrating the incredible achievements of the entire ROOTS team!

 

*During the summer, Scholars collaborate in teams to propose Leadership Grant Projects (LGPs) of their own design to be implemented over the course of the next 10 months (July-April). A capstone of sorts, LGPs require Scholars to take a proactive, structured approach to identifying and addressing real problems in the real world. Guided by Project Mentors (adult professionals), Scholars are empowered to promote positive change and create opportunities in their communities through LGPs.