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Thousands of teens in Chicago Public Schools are being handed their diplomas this month before they embark on new adventures in college and the workforce.
Born in 2006 or 2007, these young people don’t know a world without smartphones and social media. They experienced a pandemic during puberty. And when they entered high school in the fall of 2021, schools were just returning to normal in-person operations.
Chalkbeat spoke to four accomplished graduating seniors about their educational journeys over the past four years and what comes next.
Cynthia Antonio-Garcia
Graduating: Back of the Yards College Prep
Attending: University of Southern California
As the daughter of street vendors, Antonio-Garcia said she basically grew up at Chicago’s West Lawn park. She started doing gymnastics through the park district in fifth grade and joined the cheerleading team as a freshman in high school at Back of the Yards College Prep, eventually becoming one of the squad’s captains and qualifying for state competitions.
During her senior year, she created a cheer camp for middle schoolers at nearby Nightingale Elementary, where younger students learned cheer routines from Antonio-Garcia’s team and performed with them at a Back of the Yards football game. She also helps coach cheer and gymnastics at Donovan Park.
During her freshman and sophomore years, Antonio-Garcia questioned whether college was in the cards.
“All these colleges are so expensive. How am I going to be able to afford them?” she said. “I think this was slowly eased through the help of my counselors and my teachers.”
Antonio-Garcia took part in the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme and has earned more than $90,000 in scholarships to attend the University of Southern California. She plans to major in biology on a pre-dentistry track and hopes to become a dentist serving Hispanics and Latinos, who often face language barriers in accessing dental health care.
Owen Lee
Graduating: Lane Tech College Prep
Attending: University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign
When Owen Lee joined the high school swim team his freshman year, he was primarily interested in diving. But the school’s pool wasn’t deep enough, and there was no diving team. So he worked with a coach off-site to build his skills and went on to win a city diving title. As a child at Coonley Elementary, Lee did competitive gymnastics and ballet after school, which he said helped a lot in diving.
This year, Lee took 7th place in diving at the Illinois state championships as part of the Lane Tech swimming team, which took 4th overall.
“We had a really, really stacked team this year, and I was so glad to be a part of that,” Lee said.
He excelled in pole vault during his four years at Lane Tech as well, and he credits teammates in both sports for being his support system and helping him find his place at Chicago’s largest public high school.
Lee will attend the University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign and plans to major in engineering with a possible minor in art and design.
Jakayla Jackson-Bowman
Graduating: Morgan Park High School
Attending: University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign
Jakayla Jackson-Bowman wanted to be valedictorian from an early age and joked that her friends in the top 10 of the class did “not make it easy” for her in the final semesters.
At Morgan Park High School, she participated in JROTC starting her freshman year and credited her two instructors, Lt. Col. Jamel Carr and Sgt. Delval DeSavieu, with helping pull her “out of that shell” early in high school.
Jackson-Bowman enrolled in the rigorous International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme at Morgan Park and developed a love of English. She participated in the school’s dance team, student council, and debate team and served as JROTC battalion commander.
Morgan Park High School is one of five CPS high schools that works with the nonprofit Hope Chicago to pay the full cost of college for all graduates. Jackson-Bowman will attend the University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign on a Hope scholarship and plans to major in neuroscience or neurobiology and eventually go to medical school to become a doctor.
Ximena Torres
Graduating: Farragut High School
Attending: Cornell University
Born and raised in Chicago’s Humboldt Park, Ximena Torres will soon be the first in her family to attend college when she heads to Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, on a Posse scholarship.
Torres enrolled in Farragut High School four years ago almost by chance. She had paused her high school search amid remote learning in the first year of the COVID pandemic and picked the school for its pre-law program.
“I have had my heart set on being a lawyer since I was 12 years old,” Torres said, adding that she wants to practice immigration law. Both of Torres’ parents are from Mexico.
“I’m a first generation Mexican American, so it has really played a very big role,” she said. “I think the part that interests me the most is almost finding a balance between humanitarian arguments for immigration and then also arguments in favor of keeping intact the laws of the country.”
A bilingual honor society member, Torres served on Farragut’s Local School Council, the Little Village Youth Council, and the school’s Student Voice Committee. In the latter role, she led an effort to create in-school, self-care days — now named Admiral days — at Farragut once a semester.
“They are essentially nonacademic school days where we have different activities, where students can just build community, enjoy themselves, and have kind of like a wind-down day,” Torres said. “The bell schedule changes, and you get to pick from a variety of activities. JROTC does an archery class. We have puzzle classes and gaming classes with different teachers. It’s really up to you what you want to do on that day.”
Torres took part in the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme her junior and senior year. She will attend Cornell University and major in philosophy. She plans to attend law school and eventually return to Chicago to practice.
Becky Vevea is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Chicago. Contact Becky at bvevea@chalkbeat.org.