Nearly 91,000 Chicago Public School students are participating in summer academic and enrichment classes, internships, day camps and additional programming, up from the 55,000 students last year.  Summer opportunities include academic classes to help students catch up or get ahead, as well as paid internships and jobs, and middle school Career and Technical Education (CTE) camps that offer an introductory overview of fields, from aviation to the culinary arts. Summer athletic opportunities and out-of-school enrichment camps are among the additional opportunities that are rounding out this summer’s offerings.  Nearly 30,000 students are participating in locally-developed out-of-school programs focused on sports and fitness, technology, STEM, the arts, and more. More than 1,000 CPS high school students are participating in paid internships with 135 corporate partners, city governmental departments and agencies, as well as non-profit organizations across the city. Students are earning $15.40 an hour as they contribute their skills and gain on-the-job experience in the fields of law and public safety, education, transportation, media and communication arts, business and finance, manufacturing, information technology and more. 

For many, like Iselle Martinez, a Class of 2022 graduate of Sarah E. Goode STEM Academy, the experience is life changing. She is completing a six-week-long internship at IBM and hopes to continue to work part-time for the company as she attends the University of St. Louis where she plans to major in international business and minor in finance. 

Clara Perez, 12, is attending the culinary arts summer program at Benito Juarez High School before she begins 8th grade at Galileo Scholastic Academy of Math & Science. “I’ve been interested in cooking for a little while and seeing what I could learn,” said Perez. “I really like how you meet a lot of other people who have the same interests.”

The camps began five years ago and this year took place at 28 schools.