Our Program

The YEP is made up of four courses that successively broaden in scope.

Course 1

We will begin by venturing out into our own great city, with the launching of Course 1, for students ranging from the second through fourth grades.  Participants in Course 1 will go on local excursions throughout Chicago, one to two Saturdays per month.  In conjunction with the excursions, participants will attend after-school programming, composed both of homework assistance, and of lessons and activities created around each excursion.

Course 2 and Course 3

The YEP will aim to launch Course 2 (for students ranging from the fifth through eighth grades) and Course 3 (for students in the ninth and tenth grades) by the third year of operation. 

Participants in Course 2 will go on local and regional excursions throughout Illinois and neighboring states, one to two weekends per month. 

In addition to local and regional excursions, participants in Course 3 will go on national excursions, scheduled in coordination with their participating schools' academic calendars; to ensure that participants will not be absent from school to attend the excursions.  

The participants in both Course 2 and Course 3 will attend after-school programming formatted the same as that for Course 1.

Course 3B

The YEP will aim to launch Course 3B (for students in the eleventh and twelfth grades) by the fourth year of operation. The Course 3B program will be structured much in the same way as the Course 3 program; however, the Course 3B program will expand to encompass international excursions.

Furthermore, participation in three days of service projects will be incorporated into the program curriculum for all four courses of The YEP. 

Proposed Local Excursions

Museums—Chicago Children’s Museum, Bronzeville Children's Museum, Chicago History Museum, Art Institute of Chicago, Adler Planetarium, Shedd Aquarium, The Field Museum, Museum of Science and Industry, Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, DuSable Museum of African American History

Theater—concerts, musicals, plays

Culinary—Chicago-style deep dish pizza, Chinatown, Korean Barbecue, Italian cuisine, Italian Beef, Greektown, Puerto Rican cuisine, Mexican cuisine (Pilsen), sushi, Garrett's Popcorn, The Walnut Room, Pleasant House Bakery, cooking classes, Vietnamese cuisine

Sports—Cubs games, White Sox games, Bulls games, Blackhawks games, Bears games, swimming pools, waterparks, wall climbing

More—Architectural Boat Tour Chicago, Historical Boat Tour Chicago, Lincoln Park Zoo, Millennium Park, Chicago Cultural Center, beaches, colleges and universities, movies, Navy Pier, fire stations, police stations, post offices, parks

Proposed Regional Excursions

Museums—Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center, Naper Settlement, Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio

Sports—Chicago Fire soccer games, Chicago Wolves hockey games

More—Cantigny Park, Six Flags Great America, Brookfield Zoo, farms, apple orchards, pumpkin patches, strawberry patches, The Morton Arboretum, Chicago Botanic Garden, colleges and universities, lakes, state parks (camping), national parks (camping), Amana Colonies in Iowa, Capital of Illinois (Springfield), Taliesin Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture in Wisconsin

Proposed National Excursions

Washington D.C.; San Francisco; Seattle; Los Angeles; Denver; San Diego; Boston; New York City; Grand Canyon National Park, AZ; Yosemite National Park, CA; New Orleans; Austin; Yellowstone National Park, WY; Glacier National Park, MT

Proposed International Excursions

Canada; Puerto Rico; Bermuda; Dominican Republic; Peru; Argentina; France; The Netherlands; China; Belize; Mexico