ChiTech's First Graduating Class Makes Its Debut

For the inaugural graduating class of Chicago Tech Academy High School (ChiTech), early June was a bittersweet, in-between time. With exams done, grades in, and prom over, there was not much for the 68 young people to do but tie up loose ends and wait. Soon enough, the first graduates of this start-up high school will be launched into the world equipped with 21st century technology and leadership skills.

"I feel a little numb I'm not going to be in high school anymore," said Martha Zuniga, a graduating ChiTech senior who will attend Northern Illinois University's four-year program next fall. "I'm happy to be moving on and want to go on to bigger and better things, but it's kind of sad. I'm going to miss everybody."

This Saturday, Zuniga and her fellow graduates will be feted in ChiTech's first ever commencement ceremony and graduate reception at the Illinois Institute of Technology's Hermann Hall—a celebration four years in the making.

Valedictorian of ChiTech's Class of 2013 is Keautishay Young, and its salutatorian is Corey Medina. Daphne E. Jones, Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer of Hospira, the Lake Forest, Illinois-based manufacturer of injectable drugs and infusion technologies, will speak at the ChiTech commencement.

ChiTech was not a traditional high school social experience with established sports or homecoming traditions, noted Savannah Young (not related to Keautishay). "After all, we are the first class—the school is fairly new."

But ChiTech students gained skills (with technology classes in HTML5, PHP, CSS3, Javascript and even Ruby on Rails) and also experience and opportunity. "You don't see most high school students taking field trips to CompTIA or Microsoft or Google," noted Young, who will attend the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign on a full scholarship next fall.

While at ChiTech, Young interned at CompTIA and later at ThoughtWorks, a Chicago-based software design company, and also met Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. "It was really different (at ChiTech) but at the end I know it's going to pay off," said Young, who plans to major in computer science with a minor in fashion.

What's Next

ChiTech's Class of 2013 boasts a graduation rate of 84 percent (significantly better than Chicago Public School's 63 percent), and the graduating seniors have plans:

• 16% will join the workforce after graduation
• 2% will head to tech/vocational school
• 39% will attend 2-year colleges
• 12% will pursue an Associate degree for two years then transfer to a four-year program
• 31% will attend 4-year colleges

The school carefully coached the students and their families through the college application and decision making process, encouraging students to compete for selective programs, and steering them through the financial aid application process. "Most of students did a very good job of steering clear of accumulating lots of debt," said Mike Barboza, ChiTech's associate director of school culture and student development.

ChiTech graduates' skills in technology are unique for people their age from an inner city urban background, noted Barboza. Roughly a fifth of ChiTech graduates plan to study STEM-related disciplines; roughly 20 percent are interested in media arts; 13 percent are interested in healthcare, the sciences and biology; while 6 percent are interested in communications.

Many ChiTech graduates earned scholarships, with more than $700,000 in scholarships awarded (but not necessarily accepted) to graduates.

"Our higher achieving students were vigorously pursued by some universities," said Barboza. "I only anticipate that growing as our program grows and gains more reputation."